Category: World

The Swiss village of Blatten has been partially destroyed after a huge chunk of glacier crashed down into the valley.

Although the village had been evacuated some days ago because of fears the Birch glacier was disintegrating, one person has been reported missing, and many homes have been completely flattened.

Blatten’s mayor, Matthias Bellwald, said “the unimaginable has happened” but promised the village still had a future.

Local authorities have requested support from the Swiss army’s disaster relief unit and members of the Swiss government are on their way to the scene.

The disaster that has befallen Blatten is the worst nightmare for communities across the Alps.

The village’s 300 inhabitants had to leave their homes on 19 May after geologists monitoring the area warned that the glacier appeared unstable. Now many of them may never be able to return.

Appearing to fight back tears, Bellwald said: “We have lost our village, but not our heart. We will support each other and console each other. After a long night, it will be morning again.”

The Swiss government has already promised funding to make sure residents can stay, if not in the village itself, at least in the locality.

However, Raphaël Mayoraz, head of the regional office for Natural Hazards, warned that further evacuations in the areas close to Blatten might be necessary.

Climate change is causing the glaciers – frozen rivers of ice – to melt faster and faster, and the permafrost, often described as the glue that holds the high mountains together, is also thawing.

Drone footage showed a large section of the Birch glacier collapsing at about 15:30 (14:30 BST) on Wednesday. The avalanche of mud that swept over Blatten sounded like a deafening roar, as it swept down into the valley leaving an enormous cloud of dust.

Glaciologists monitoring the thaw have warned for years that some alpine towns and villages could be at risk, and Blatten is not even the first to be evacuated.

In eastern Switzerland, residents of the village of Brienz were evacuated two years ago because the mountainside above them was crumbling.

Since then, they have only been permitted to return for short periods.

In 2017, eight hikers were killed, and many homes destroyed, when the biggest landslide in over a century came down close to the village of Bondo.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnv1evn2p2vo

Around 47 people were injured, largely due to gunshots fired by the Israeli military, during chaotic scenes at a new aid distribution centre in Gaza, a senior UN official said on Wednesday (May 28).

The Israeli military said afterwards that its soldiers did not fire at civilians at the aid distribution point.

Thousands of Palestinians rushed into the centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Tuesday, AFP journalists reported, as Israel implemented a new distribution system that bypasses the United Nations.

The incident in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip came days after the partial easing of a total aid blockade on the Palestinian territory that Israel imposed on Mar 2, leading to severe shortages of food and medicine.

“From the information we have, there are about 47 people who have been injured” in Tuesday’s incident, Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, told the UN correspondents’ association in Geneva.

He added that “most of those injured are due to gunshots” and based on the information he has, “it was shooting from the IDF” – the Israel Defence Forces.

Sunghay stressed that his office was still assessing and gathering information on the full picture of events.

“The numbers could go up. We are trying to confirm what has happened to them”, in terms of how seriously people were injured, Sunghay added.

“We are checking information from the UN. At the time we are speaking, we have no information on this matter,” Israeli military spokesman Colonel Olivier Rafowicz told AFP, referring to the wounded civilians.

Israeli soldiers “fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside” the centre managed by the GHF, he said, adding that “in no case (did they fire) towards the people”.

Rafowicz added that “Hamas is doing everything to prevent humanitarian aid”.

Sunghay also expressed concern about the possible medical aid injured people would be able to access.

“Getting medical aid has never been easy in Gaza or in the West Bank because hospitals have been attacked, ambulances have been attacked, health workers have been attacked,” he said.

The Israeli military said its troops “fired warning shots in the area outside” the distribution compound on Tuesday, and that it had re-established “control over the situation”. A senior military official said the distribution was nonetheless “a success”.

GHF NOT “VIABLE SOLUTION”

Little is known about the GHF, which surfaced in early May.

The foundation has faced accusations of helping Israel fulfil its military objectives while excluding Palestinians, bypassing the UN system, and failing to adhere to humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence.

“We have raised numerous concerns with this mechanism,” Sunghay said.

He said large parts of the Gazan population would not travel all the way to the far south to collect food – while the elderly, sick, disabled and those looking after children would not be able to do so in any case.

There were also concerns within the population that they would be detained, or not allowed to return to northern Gaza.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/gaza-aid-centre-shooting-47-injured-us-humanitarian-foundation-5156941

A video that went viral in Indonesia this month showed about 20 students of primary school age, some wielding iron rulers, chasing one another in Depok city on the outskirts of Jakarta.

They were later found to be from two different primary schools located nearby.

The students were fishing at a river near their schools and one group began to mock the other, according to Masrokan, a sports teacher at one of the schools.

They decided to resolve their conflict after school on May 10.

“They chased each other, and people living nearby saw it,” said Masrokan, who goes by one name.

“So the adults chased the students and told them to stop the brawl.”

The incident sent shockwaves across Indonesia due to the age of the children – ranging from 10 to 12 – involved.

It also came on the back of several deadly brawls involving older students in recent months.

In Pati regency in Central Java, a 17-year-old died after a brawl involving students from two high schools broke out on May 9.

In Southeast Maluku in March, two people died and over a dozen were injured in a clash between two youth groups wielding air rifles, arrows and machetes.

While not a new phenomenon in Indonesia, these and other recent cases have prompted the authorities to vow a crackdown on trouble-makers and find alternative outlets for them to channel their energy.

CNA takes a look at the root causes of such brawls in Indonesia and what can be done to prevent them.

MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES = MORE BRAWLS, SAY EXPERTS

Youth brawls and hooliganism are hardly unique to Indonesia and are complex problems that have persisted for generations, experts told CNA.

Ichsan Malik, a lecturer on peace and conflict resolution from the Indonesia Defense University in Bogor, West Java, said the first brawl reported by a national newspaper was one involving high school students in Jakarta in 1968.

He said a brawl in Indonesia is commonly understood to involve the use of weapons. If no weapon is used, in Indonesia, it is usually labelled a fight.

Brawls are more common among high school students because it is during adolescence when one is forming one’s identity, which may manifest in the teenagers being “more easily frustrated and aggressive”, said Ichsan.

The brawl in Depok involving primary school students could have happened because children nowadays are exposed to many things from an early age with the rise of social media, said Ichsan.

Educational expert Doni Koesoema from Multimedia Nusantara University in Tangerang, Banten, said that brawls also took place when he was in junior high school in Surabaya in 1986.

However, the brawls in those days were not so violent, he said.

In the past, brawls tended to happen between students from different schools in Indonesia but, these days, they also happen between groups of young adults from different neighbourhoods, said sociologist Bagong Suyanto from Surabaya’s Airlangga University.

He shared Ichsan’s view that brawls tend to happen more in marginalised or poor, homogeneous neighbourhoods with unemployment or poor employment prospects.

Parts of Manggarai sub-district in Jakarta, for instance, are notorious for brawls between residents from different neighbourhoods, which have taken place for decades.

According to informal parking attendant Muhammad Lutfi, 24, who is a resident there, the brawls have become more frequent since the area became busier with the revamp of Manggarai train station in recent years.

Fights these days are usually due to tussles over who gets to work informally at a particular commercial space or the quest for domination in a certain area, he said.

The rise of online shopping has also made weapons such as machetes and knives more accessible, said Lutfi.

Lutfi himself became caught in a tussle earlier this month.

He was taking a nap at a parking lot on the evening of May 4 when more than a dozen young people came storming towards him and hit his head with a sickle.

“I think the brawl here happened because they want to work as a parking attendant or earn money,” said Lutfi, who was rescued by others at the parking lot who intervened and took him to the hospital.

He was left with a scar on his head from the attack.

POLICE PATROLS AND OTHER MEASURES

Brawls among youths or students escalate when enforcement is lax, said Ichsan.

For years, no real solution has been introduced to eradicate the violence, but several authorities have recently vowed to tackle the problem.

Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Arifah Fauzi said the brawling children in Depok were victims of an inadequate system, and her ministry would ensure they undergo mentoring.

“All Indonesian children are our children who should be in a safe environment … We all certainly agree that brawls involving elementary school-aged children are a violation of the basic principles of child protection,” said Arifah on May 12.

Following the incident, the students, their parents, teachers and the police met at one of the schools on May 15.

The students signed a statement saying they would not take part in brawls again.

The police will also regularly patrol the area around schools, especially after school hours.

“This will not just happen at the two schools but everywhere in this area (in) Cimanggis, Depok,” police chief Jupriono, who oversees the subdistrict, told CNA.

At the provincial level, West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi wants to send students involved in brawls to military barracks.

Taking a religious and cultural approach is Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung, who wants to introduce a programme called Manggarai Bershalawat, which means “Manggarai praying for blessings”.

“People who are fighting, having disagreements, must have a reason. What is the main cause? The main cause must be sought,” said Pramono last Friday (May 23) during a prayer session where he also launched the programme in Manggarai.

“One of them is that the youth’s energy here is not being channelled properly. There are no sports facilities,” he said, handing out badminton and futsal equipment for the sub-district’s residents’ use.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-student-youth-brawls-policies-5154071

French President Emmanuel Macron was scolded by wife Brigitte Macron after she aggressively shoved his face in a shocking moment that has since gone viral.

Brigitte allegedly called the politician a “loser” after their uncomfortable squabble that unfolded on an airplane during their state visit to Vietnam Sunday, a lip reader told The Express in an article published Wednesday.

“As the aircraft door opens, President Macron is seen turning toward Brigitte,” the expert explained. “In an unexpected moment, she pushes him in the face. Realizing the door is already open and staff are witnessing the interaction, Emmanuel appears uncomfortable and quickly raises his hand with a forced ‘Hi.’

The analyst claimed that Emmanuel, 47, attempted to compose himself and stepped closer to his spouse, 72, before crossing to the other side of the plane. He then signaled his wife to follow him by telling her, ‘Let’s go.’

“He thanks the pilot and waves at the cameras, trying to recover the public-facing image,” the analyst explained.

While Emmanuel was momentarily calm, the analyst claimed “things turn[ed] icy again” when the couple was seen descending the stairs to the tarmac.

“He offers his arm; she ignores it, clinging to the railing instead,” the analyst shared. “As she passes, she appears to mutter … ‘Dégage, espèce de loser,’ translated in English, ‘Stay away, you loser.’”

Emmanuel apparently replied to her name-calling by saying, “Essayons, s’il te plaît,” which translates in English to “Let’s try, please?” to which she allegedly answered in her native tongue, “No.”

“His closing expression, and the phrase lipread as ‘Je vois,’ translated in English [to] ‘I see,’ says it all,” the analyst added.

The expert completed the analysis by offering a “hot take.”

“A rare unguarded exchange that hints at deeper tensions between the couple. One to watch, especially with a packed diplomatic schedule ahead.” the lipreader said.

Brigitte and Emmanuel’s volatile exchange was captured on camera over the weekend after they touched down in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, Sunday.

Emmanuel was seen standing close to the plane’s exit door when Brigitte lunged at his head with both her hands and pushed him with full force.

The president appeared shocked before attempting to shake it off by waving at the media filming the interaction.

Shortly after, they exited the aircraft side-by-side but notably did not touch or hold hands.

Emmanuel released a statement shutting down the allegation that they were “squabbling” and chalked it up to a moment of “joking

“Everyone needs to calm down,” he said, noting that the public was turning the moment into “a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe.”

“People are saying all sorts of nonsense,” he claimed.

A source close to the French leader alleged that Emmanuel was “decompressing” ahead of the trip by “joking around.”

“It’s a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists,” the source said.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/28/celebrity-news/what-french-president-macron-and-wife-brigitte-said-to-each-other-after-she-shoved-him-lip-reader/

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former stylist Deonte Nash testified that the disgraced music mogul would consistently hurl degrading insults at Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.

Nash told prosecutors during the ongoing sex-trafficking trial Wednesday that Combs would refer to his now-ex-girlfriend — whom he dated on and off from 2007 to 2018 — as “baby girl, CC, bitch, slut, ho,” per People.

Nash went on to tell the court that Combs called Ventura a bitch “quite a bit.”

“That was his fave,” he claimed.

The stylist, who worked for Combs from 2008 to 2018, further claimed, “He would say, ‘She was nothing but a slut anyway.’”

When asked how Ventura responded to the abusive nicknames, Nash testified that the singer would feel “sad” and “go into a depression.”

Nash claimed he heard Combs threaten to “beat [Ventura’s] ass” or “send her sex tapes out.”

“It drove her crazy. She would be super emotional. She might stay in the house for days,” he added.

Nash is one of several witnesses who have testified about the disgraced music mogul’s alleged physical and emotional abuse of Ventura.

Last week, singer Dawn Richard — who is also suing the Bad Boy Records founder for sexual abuse— testified that Combs “owned” Ventura and would often become violent toward her when she “would speak up for herself.”

“He would drag her and kick her and punch her in the mouth,” she told the jury.

Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, testified that she and her husband were blackmailed by Combs for $20,000 over the “Me & U” singer’s brief relationship with Kid Cudi. (Cassie previously testified in court that Combs was jealous of their romance).

A pregnant Cassie took the stand earlier this month to testify about her decade-long relationship with Combs and her participation in his infamous “Freak-Off” parties — which at times lasted up to four days and caused her “painful” medical issues.

The “Long Way to Go” hitmaker also answered questions about the 2016 surveillance footage of his physical attack at a hotel and her allegation that Combs raped her in 2018 which was mentioned in her 2023 bombshell lawsuit.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/28/celebrity-news/sean-diddy-combs-vulgar-names-for-cassie-ventura-revealed-in-testimony-at-trial/

A TEENAGER’S driving lesson ended in horror after a deadly plunge off a cliff.

The crash killed the young girl’s father, who was teaching her how to drive, according to police.

It happened on Memorial Day in Laguna Beach, California, just fifty miles from Los Angeles.

A 15-year-old girl was behind the wheel with her 64-year-old dad, James Politoski, in the passenger seat, according to police.

The lesson took place in an upper parking lot of a closed Gelson’s Market, cops said.

At some point, the teen drove through a fence, and the car careened off a 40-foot embankment.

The vehicle flipped and landed upside down on the sidewalk below Coast Highway, authorities said.

“It appeared to be on a permitted driver, a 15-year-old female driver with her father out, essentially, in a driving lesson sort of situation,” Lieutenant Jesse Schmidt of Laguna Peach told NBC local affiliate WSAZ.

“Gas pedal, brake pedal confusion, and tumbled over a 40-foot cliff on the Coast Highway,” Schmidt said.

Cops were able to confirm the teen had a valid driver’s permit.

Her father died at the scene, according to first responders.

Paramedics rushed the girl to the hospital with major injuries.

She was in stable condition as of Wednesday, May 28, police said, and is expected to survive her injuries.

“It is always difficult when an accident leads to the loss of life, especially under circumstances where a parent was simply trying to do the right thing by teaching their child a valuable life skill,” Schmidt said in a statement to The U.S. Sun.

“What began as an act of care and guidance ended in unimaginable sorrow.”

Aerial footage from CBS local affiliate KCAL showed the mangled car upside down near the highway.

Police believe the teen may have accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.

The car tore through a fence before it went airborne, landing hard below.

“It’s a tragic incident,” Schmidt said.

“The community is shaken by this because someone lost their life by being a good parent.”

Authorities said the investigation into the crash is still ongoing.

“Tragically, an adult male passenger in the vehicle was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the department said in a statement.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14346466/teen-daughter-car-crash-kills-dad-tragedy-accident-driving/

A massive political rally commenced in Dhaka this afternoon by three affiliated organisations of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal, and Swechchhasebak Dal – even as interim government advisor Muhammad Yunus embarked on a four-day Japan visit.

The rally, titled “Rally for Establishing Youth Political Rights”, will see BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman to addressing the rally virtually as the chief guest. The organisers say lakhs of supporters are expected to congregate at the BNP’s central office in Nayapaltan Mr Rahman’s address will be closely watched as he has been critical of the Yunus-led interim government.

A BNP delegation had met Mr Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna on May 24 and demanded a clear and immediate roadmap for elections, which should be held by December.

The BNP has often expressed its opposition on the interim government taking decisions on matters that have long-term implications for Bangladesh and wants it to focus on primarily holding elections and transfer power to a democratically elected government. The party had stated that the people of Bangladesh do not believe that an interim government has the jurisdiction to make such nationally important and long-term policy decisions.

The BNP has told Mr Yunus that when it comes to decisions on the Rohingya corridor and Chattogram port, the government’s statements and activities should have been in accordance with national interests.

Mr Yunus, who has been facing protests over several issues, left for Tokyo on Wednesday on a four-day official visit to Tokyo to attend the 30th Nikkei Forum. He is also expected to hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on May 30 to strengthen Bangladesh-Japan ties. Seven Memorandums of Understanding MoUs are expected to be signed in the areas of investment, energy and technology.

Protests have been taking place in Bangladesh, including at the heavily-guarded secretariat, over a move by the interim government in Bangladesh to clamp down on dissent by government employees.

The interim government had issued an ordinance on Sunday allowing the Ministry of Public Administration to dismiss public servants for misconduct without lengthy procedures, which are seen as safeguards against arbitrary dismissals. This sparking outrage across the bureaucracy, with government employees calling the ordinance “repressive” and demanding its immediate rollback.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/bangladesh-nationalist-party-holds-rally-as-muhammad-yunus-leaves-for-japan-8528083

SABRINA Carpenter is being eyed up for a starring role in Mamma Mia 3.

The chart-topping singer, 26, is wanted to feature in the upcoming feel-good film.

Producer Judy Craymer, who had the idea for the original stage show — and has finished a script for a third movie — said: “She’d be a goddess or some relation who would look very much like Meryl Streep.”

Speaking about the project, 67-year-old Judy told Hollywood news site Deadline: “Well, we know what we want to do with the movie, and it will happen.

“And I mean, we brought together this amazing group of movie stars that were all connected through it, and huge friendships evolved.”

The first film came out in 2008 and had an all-star cast, including Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.

It was adapted from the 1999 West End musical — made up of Abba hits.

The original movie and 2018 sequel Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again have made more than $1billion at the box office.

Espresso singer Sabrina is known to be a big Abba fan and has covered some of their songs on her Short n’ Sweet tour.

She also has cats called Benny and Björn — and last month met the real Björn Ulvaeus, 80, in Stockholm.

Amanda Seyfried, 39, who plays Sophie the films, previously said she could see Sabrina playing her daughter, despite an age gap of just 13 years.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tv/14344983/sabrina-carpenter-mamma-mia-three/

SEAN “Diddy” Combs threatened Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura that he would send her “freak-off” videos to her parents to get them fired from their jobs, a stylist and friend of the singer testified.

Combs’ trial descended into chaos early after his defense team demanded a mistrial, claiming prosecutorial misconduct over questioning of the destroyed evidence from Kid Cudi’s car firebombing.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead attorney, argued the prosecution made an “outrageous” suggestion when they claimed the music executive, 55, could have played a part in the destruction of fingerprint evidence from Cudi’s arson investigation.

The defense claimed the suggestion was raised to the jury during the prosecution’s questioning of arson investigator Lance Jimenez.

Jimenez was testifying about his investigation into Cudi’s car bombing and said that the fingerprint evidence recovered from the bottle of the Molotov cocktail was destroyed without his knowledge in 2012.

Jimenez told the courtroom that the DNA evidence was destroyed on orders from the Los Angeles Police Department, who was not part of his team.

After the judge called for a brief 10-minute break and the jury was escorted out of the courtroom, Agnifilo said the remarks “implied that someone in this courtroom was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprint cards.”

Combs’ defense team urged Judge Arun Subramanian to declare a mistrial, citing prosecutorial misconduct.

However, the motion was quickly denied.

Judge Subramanian agreed to strike the questions and responses about the fingerprint evidence from the record.

The judge then instructed the jury to disregard all the information disclosed about the DNA evidence, saying the questions and responses were irrelevant to the case.

FREAK-OFF VIDEO THREATS

Deonte Nash, Ventura’s friend and a celebrity stylist, testified about the repeated threats Combs allegedly made against his then-girlfriend.

Nash told the courtroom how during one phone conversation, Combs threatened Ventura that he would release the videos of her participating in “freak-offs” on the internet.

When asked what Ventura said about the recorded sexual encounters, Nash said she told him “she didn’t want to” have sex with the men.

Combs also warned Ventura that he would send a copy to her parents’ workplace to get them fired from their jobs, Nash said on the stand.

Nash testified how he saw bruises on Ventura’s body “quite often.”

The day began with testimony from an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, who responded to the break in at the property of rapper Kid Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, in December 2011.

VICTIM #4 EXPECTED TO TESTIFY THURSDAY

The prosecution is expected to call forth Victim #4, who is being identified in court only by the pseudonym “Mia,.”

Mia is a former employee of Combs, who prosecutors say was coerced into sex with him.

During opening statements, prosecutor Emily Johnson described Mia as a former personal assistant whom Combs worked “to the bone for years.”

Johnson said that at some point, Combs allegedly forced himself on her sexually, coerced her to perform oral sex on him, and even snuck into her bed to have sex with her against her will.

On Tuesday, Capricorn Clark, who worked for Combs on and off between 2004 and 2018, testified about her former boss’ violent and arduous demands that led her to develop stress-induced alopecia.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14332192/sean-diddy-combs-trial-sex-trafficking/

The Starship is designed to eventually be fully reusable and launch at low cost, carrying Elon Musk’s hopes of making humanity a multi-planetary species.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s commercial space flight company, SpaceX, suffered another setback on Sunday after its ninth Starship test flight exploded over the Indian Ocean just 30 minutes after the uncrewed rocket was launched into space from Texas. The ambitious project is central to Musk’s dream of colonising Mars, who hoped to release a series of mock satellites following liftoff, but that got nixed because the door of the rocket failed to open all the way.

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Musk acknowledged that both the mission’s progress and the technical issues that led to the failure, but noted the test was a “big improvement” and has given them “lots of good data to review”.

“Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review,” he wrote.

Musk, however, vowed to pick up the pace. “Launch cadence for the next 3 flights will be faster – approximately one every 3 to 4 weeks,” he said, congratulating the SpaceX team for “great achievement.

The billionaire CEO was scheduled to deliver an update on his space exploration ambitions in a speech from Starbase following the test flight, billed as a livestream presentation about “The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary.” Hours later, he had yet to give the speech.

Musk’s Mars Mission

The 400-foot tall (122 meter) Starship rocket system is the core of Musk’s goal of sending humans to Mars. It is designed to eventually be fully reusable and launch at low cost, carrying the billionaire’s hopes of making humanity a multi-planetary species.

The rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas and flew beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year. For the latest launch, the upper-stage cruise vessel was lofted to space atop a previously flown booster – a first such demonstration of the booster’s reusability.

But SpaceX lost contact with the 232-foot lower-stage booster during its descent before it plunged into the sea, rather than making the controlled splashdown the company had planned. Starship, meanwhile, continued into suborbital space but began to spin uncontrollably roughly 30 minutes into the mission. The errant spiralling came after SpaceX cancelled a plan to deploy eight mock Starlink satellites into space – the rocket’s “Pez” candy dispenser-like mechanism failed to work as designed.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/elon-musk-reveals-what-led-to-spacex-starship-crash-over-indian-ocean-8526918

Saudi Arabia and the UAE avoided high tariffs imposed by the US government. In the past, international companies often set up anew in low-tariff nations to avoid higher prices. Will it happen in the Middle East too?

“Made in Saudi Arabia” — the suggestion has been hyped ever since US President Donald Trump imposed high tariffs on goods produced in China and other Asian countries.

“Saudi Arabia should be sending their trade representatives to the Trump administration right now, asking, ‘what was China providing you? Tell us what it is and we will make it in Saudi Arabia’,” Ellen Wald, a historian and author of the 2018 book “Saudi, Inc.: The Arabian Kingdom’s Pursuit of Profit and Power,” told media outlet Middle East Eye last month.

China and other countries, including Vietnam and Thailand, are all major centers for manufacturing with many multinational companies, from Adidas to Apple, making everything from laptops to tracksuits there. But in April, the Trump administration imposed higher tariffs on them.

Other nations managed to escape the toughest Trump tariffs though. Most Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were only landed with 10% tariffs.

One of the options companies have used to avoid high tariffs in the recent past has been to pivot to manufacturing in low-tariff nations. For many international businesses, this started a few years ago as US-China trade tensions grew — it’s part of the reason why Vietnam and Thailand have been doing so well in this sector.

Next “pivot countries” in the Middle East?

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been trying to diversify their economies away from oil and to advance manufacturing, especially in the high-tech sector. The UAE has Operation 300bn, which was launched in 2021 and refers to increasing the local industrial sector’s contribution to national income to 300 billion UAE dirhams (€72 billion). Saudi Arabia has Vision 2030, with a similar focus on growing local manufacturing and industry.

There have already been reports about some of the world’s largest technology companies, including US brands Dell and HP, scouting sites for new factories in Saudi Arabia. Chinese firm Lenovo is building a computer and server assembly factory there and Saudi company Alat — state funded to the tune of around $100 billion (€88 billion)— is collaborating with Japan’s Softbank Group on industrial robotics, that could later be used on assembly lines, addressing local labor shortages. The Saudis have apparently also been wooing China’s Foxconn, a major supplier of Apple’s iPhones, and Taiwan’s Quanta, who make computers and computer parts for the likes of Dell.

“Dozens of countries are pitching to take advantage of high tariffs on Asian countries that export to the US, in the hope that they will be able to penetrate the US market,” David Butter, an associate fellow at the UK think tank Chatham House, told DW.

Pivot has positives, negatives

“And countries like Saudi Arabia could position themselves as relative safe havens for businesses seeking to escape higher tariffs or mitigate the uncertainties surrounding them,” Nader Kabbani, director of research at the Qatar-based Middle East Council on Global Affairs, or ME Council, explained.

Saudi Arabia has a lot of attributes that could help make that happen, Kabbani continued.

“It has abundant natural resources, including and in addition to oil. It has a large domestic market. It is centrally located, serving as a bridge between Asia, Africa, and Europe,” he told DW. “And its government actively supports economic diversification efforts. It also has reasonably well-developed infrastructure [and] is willing to attract migrant workers at all skill levels.”

The region does have some advantages, agreed Frederic Schneider, an independent policy consultant and a senior non-resident fellow, also at the ME Council. He added to Kabbani’s list of advantages, the Gulf states’ large logistics industry, low- or no-tax regimes and the fact that local currencies are pegged to a weakening US dollar, meaning their exports may become cheaper and therefore more competitive.

But there’s an equally long list of potential disadvantages, including some tough competition.

“Existing manufacturing is still relatively underdeveloped and largely confined to sectors adjacent to the hydrocarbon sector,” Schneider told DW. If the Saudis want to compete in high-tech manufacturing, they’ll be up against countries like China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Germany and Switzerland. In lower-tech sectors, they’re competing against Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“And while these countries suffer from different disadvantages … they have decades of experience, an existing infrastructure and large domestic market and human capital pool,” Schneider pointed out.

There are other negative factors too, Schnieder continued. That includes growing cultural issues as more foreigners work in previously conservative Gulf communities, climate change causing the region to heat up faster than others, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty around possible conflicts between, for example, Iran and the US.

“Project risks are also sizeable,” Schneider added. “While the region is keen to sport technological ‘firsts,’ many do not materialize.” He pointed to unsuccessful drone taxis and travel via hyperloop as well as cryptocurrency investments gone wrong and abandoned or downsized construction projects.

There has also been heavy criticism of Saudi Arabian plans by a group called Never Neom. “What exists [of Saudi plans] are vague investment announcements — mostly tied to foreign partnerships and projects still on paper,” Never Neom writes on its website.

The activist group, which protests grand plans for futuristic Saudi city, Neom, previously had a Facebook page blocked for “inauthentic behavior” connected to political opponents of the Saudi government. Still, the group’s statements offer some of the only counter-arguments to all the more dominant paid content online about Saudi manufacturing prowess.

Trade war trumps all

So is it all just hype? The answer likely lies in the middle somewhere.

Governments in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are certainly building more factories and seeing non-oil activities contribute more to national income every year.

But even if there is a pivot of some sort to Gulf states, higher international tariffs and a possible trade war would still undermine any benefits, experts argue.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/laptops-iphones-made-in-saudi-arabia-hype-or-genuine-opportunity/a-72687658

A Cambodian soldier was killed during clashes with the Thai army along a disputed stretch of border, Cambodia’s military said on Wednesday.

“One of our soldiers died during the fight, and there were some injuries, but we don’t have detailed figures yet,” said Cambodian Royal Army spokesperson Mao Phalla.

Border skirmish lasted 10 minutes

Phalla confirmed “there were clashes,” but said Thai soldiers had attacked Cambodian troops who had been on a routine border patrol in the northern Preah Vihear province, which borders Ubon Ratchathani on the Thai side.

“Our soldier died in the trenches. The Thais came to attack us,” he alleged.

Thailand’s Royal Army at the same time said the clash took place after Cambodian soldiers began firing first.

The Thai army said in a statement that its soldiers fired back in response to fire from Cambodia’s border force.

This, it said, led to an exchange lasting around 10 minutes before the Cambodians requested a ceasefire, according to the Thai army statement.

Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the situation has been resolved and that both sides did not intend to open fire at each other.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/cambodian-soldier-killed-in-clash-with-thai-army/a-72700404

With South Koreans due to vote for a new president in the first week of June, analysts warn that the winner of the vote will immediately face challenges in the international arena from friends and rivals alike.

Seoul is already under pressure on trade and security issues from the US administration of President Donald Trump, its most important ally against the regime in North Korea.

At the same time, South Korea aims to keep essential trade ties with US rival China. Furthermore, its relations with another regional player — Japan — could show cracks depending on the outcome of the vote.

Most recent polls put Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-Myung in favor with 49.2% of voters, significantly ahead of his People Power Party (PPP) rival Kim Moon-soo, at 36.8%. The PPP party’s image has been tarnished by now-impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol who is on trial over his attempt to impose martial law in December.

Kim has been narrowing the gap, however, and a third party, the conservative New Reform Party, currently boasts 10.3% support, possibly giving it a say in the make-up of the new government.

“The winner is going to face a lot of big issues very quickly,” said Choo Jae-woo, a professor of foreign policy at Kyung Hee University in Seoul.

“My feeling is that the incoming president will have to first of all engage with Trump and hope to take the rest of his policies from there,” he told DW. “For Korea, the most serious worry is the tariffs on exports to the US and the changing role of the military alliance, including the US forces in Korea.”

Dealing with an ‘incoherent’ US

Seoul is in talks with Washington on trade and there have been suggestions that a deal could be within reach, although it is not clear whether all tariffs will be lifted.

The question of US troops stationed in South Korea is even more delicate, with reports in recent weeks suggesting that the Pentagon is considering withdrawing more than 4,000 troops from the present 28,000 stationed.

The US has played down the reports — but Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull troops out unless Seoul paid more for their presence.

Removing any troops from the peninsula would hand a strategic win for both North Korea and China, Choo said.

Dan Pinkston, a professor of international relations at the Seoul campus of Troy University, said Seoul is struggling to manage the “incoherent” decisions that are emerging from Washington on trade and security matters.

“Whoever comes in has to find a way to manage those relationships with the US and return to some sort of predictability or stability as they are all over the place at the moment and that makes planning and moving forward impossible,” he said.

The threat from the North

North Korea will also be a major concern for a new administration, after President Yoon’s government decided to effectively ignore Pyongyang and halt most efforts to communicate with Kim Jong Un. During Yoon’s tenure, Pyongyang forged an alliance with Russia that saw North Korean troops deploy in Russia and Ukraine. Moscow allegedly returned the favor by giving North Korea fuel and military technology that was previously beyond its reach due to UN sanctions.

Bolstered by the alliance with Moscow, Kim Jong Un has now severed all communications with the South and constructed additional defenses on the already heavily fortified border.

“If Lee wins, I am sure he will try to reset ties with the North, but it takes two to tango, and I think it is very unlikely that Kim will do anything to reciprocate,” said Pinkston. “Those bridges have been burned. Lee will try, but it will be very difficult.”

Choo agrees that Kim will continue to give the South “the cold shoulder” because Seoul is perceived as an ally of the US and still hostile to the North.

Consideration for China

Relations with Beijing are also tense, despite China being South Korea’s top trading partner. Last year, China imported around $133 billion (€117.3 billion) of South Korean goods, or 19.5% of South Korea’s total exports, edging out the US with $128.4 and 18.8%.

But Choo points out that Seoul and Beijing are currently bickering over an old oil rig that China has placed within disputed waters in the Yellow Sea.

China claims the facility is part of a fishing project, which is permitted under an existing bilateral agreement, but South Korea fears it is being used to encroach further into the disputed waters and enforce Beijing’s claims to more sea territory.

“It is delicate and will put the president in a dilemma because Chinese Premier Xi Jinping is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum that South Korea is hosting in Gyeongju later this year,” Choo pointed out.

“The new government will not want to stir up anti-Chinese sentiment out of concern that Xi might cancel his attendance at the summit,” he said. “The new president will on this issue as well be walking a very fine line.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/south-korea-foreign-policy-battles-wait-for-new-president/a-72696682

Thousands of Palestinians have overrun an aid distribution site in Gaza set up by a controversial US and Israeli-backed group, a day after it began working there.

Videos showed crowds walking over torn-down fences and earth berms at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) compound in the southern city of Rafah.

The group said that at one point its team fell back because the numbers seeking aid were so great. The Israeli military said troops nearby fired warning shots.

The GHF, which uses armed American security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid in Gaza, where experts have warned of a looming famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade that was recently eased.

The UN said the videos from Rafah were “heartbreaking” and that it had a detailed plan ready to get enough aid to the “desperate population” of 2.1 million.

The UN and many aid groups have refused to co-operate with GHF’s plans, which they say contradict humanitarian principles and appear to “weaponise aid”.

They have warned that the system will practically exclude those with mobility issues, force further displacement, expose thousands of people to harm, make aid conditional on political and military aims, and set an unacceptable precedent for aid delivery around the world.

Israel has said an alternative to the current aid system is needed to stop Hamas stealing aid, which the group denies doing.

The GHF said it had given out the equivalent of 462,000 meals through a partnership with local non-governmental organisations.

However, it added Palestinians had experienced several hours of delays in accessing one site “due to blockades imposed by Hamas”, without providing evidence.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio support “bold” and “out-of-the-box efforts” to make life better for the people of Gaza, said a senior Trump administration official.

On Tuesday afternoon, Israeli and Palestinian media shared videos showing thousands of men, women and children streaming into one of the distribution sites. In one clip, some people are seen running and ducking as what appear to be gunshots ring out.

Witnesses described a scene of chaos as people seized food parcels and other aid. They also said Israeli troops stationed nearby had opened fire.

“The situation was extremely difficult. They only allowed 50 people to cross at a time,” one man told BBC Arabic’s Middle East daily radio programme. “In the end, chaos broke out – people climbed over the gates, attacked others, and took all the [aid].”

“It was a humiliating experience,” he added.

A woman said “people are exhausted – willing to do anything, even risk their lives – just to find food and feed their children.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops had fired “warning shots in the area outside the compound”.

“Control over the situation was established, food distribution operations are expected to continue as planned, and the safety of IDF troops was not compromised,” it stated.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office said Israel’s efforts to distribute aid had “failed miserably”. It also denied that Hamas had tried to stop civilians reaching the GHF’s sites.

At a news conference in New York, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric called the footage “heartbreaking”.

“We and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound plan supported by member states to get aid to a desperate population. We continue to stress that a meaningful scale-up of humanitarian operations is essential to stave off famine and meet the needs of all civilians wherever they are,” he added.

The US state department’s spokeswoman called the UN’s criticism “the height of hypocrisy”.

“It is unfortunate, because the issue here is giving aid to Gaza, and then suddenly it moves into complaints about style or the nature of who’s doing it,” Tammy Bruce told reporters.

Challenged by the BBC about the independence and neutrality of the GHF, Bruce acknowledged there are “some disagreements” about how the distribution of food and aid into the region is “being implemented”.

But she added: “I think that most of us would agree that this is good news… the real story here is that there’s food aid going in.”

The GHF sites are meant to be secured by American contractors, with Israeli troops patrolling the perimeters. To access them, Palestinians are expected to have to undergo identity checks and screening for involvement with Hamas.

UN and other aid agencies have insisted they will not co-operate with any scheme that fails to respect fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.

On Sunday night, Jake Wood resigned as the GHF’s executive director, saying the group’s system could not work in a way that would be able to fulfil those principles.

The GHF’s board rejected the criticism and accused “those who benefit from the status quo” of being more focused on “tearing this apart than on getting aid in”.

The group also alleged on Monday that Hamas had made death threats to NGOs supporting its distribution sites and attempted to block civilians from accessing the aid.

Hamas has publicly warned Palestinians not to co-operate with GHF’s system.

Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It said the steps were meant to put pressure on the armed group to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, up to 23 of whom are believed to be alive.

On 19 May, the Israeli military launched an expanded offensive that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would see troops “take control of all areas” of Gaza. The plan reportedly includes completely clearing the north of civilians and forcibly displacing them to the south.

Netanyahu also said Israel would temporarily ease the blockade and allow a “basic” amount of food into Gaza to prevent a famine, following pressure from allies in the US.

Since then, Israeli authorities say they have allowed at least 665 lorry loads of humanitarian aid, including flour, baby food and medical supplies, into Gaza.

However, more than 400 loads were on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing awaiting distribution by the UN as of Tuesday evening, according to the Israeli military body in charge of aid co-ordination, Cogat. It called on the UN to “do its job”.

There was no immediate comment from the UN, but it said last week that its teams faced significant challenges in collecting supplies due to insecurity, the risk of looting and co-ordination issues with Israeli forces.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gep705527o

Nitrous oxide – known colloquially as “laughing gas” – has many uses, from a painkiller during dental procedures to a whipping agent for canned whipped cream.

While its euphoric side effects have long been known, the rise of vaping has helped create a perfect delivery vehicle for the gas – and a perfect recipe for an addiction, experts warn.

Meg Caldwell’s death wasn’t inevitable.

The horseback rider from Florida had started using nitrous oxide recreationally in university eight years ago. But like many young people, she started to use more heavily during the pandemic.

The youngest of four sisters, she was was “the light of our lives,” her sister Kathleen Dial told the BBC.

But Ms Caldwell’s use continued to escalate, to the point that her addiction “started running her life”.

She temporarily lost use of her legs after an overdose, which also rendered her incontinent. Still, she continued to use, buying it in local smoke shops, inhaling it in the car park and then heading straight back into the shop to buy more. She sometimes spent hundreds of dollars a day.

She died last November, in one of those car parks just outside a vape shop.

“She didn’t think that it would hurt her because she was buying it in the smoke shop, so she thought she was using this substance legally,” Ms Dial said.

The progression of Ms Caldwell’s addiction – from youthful misuse to life-threatening compulsion – has become increasingly common. The Annual Report of America’s Poison Centers found there was a 58 % increase in reports of intentional exposure to nitrous oxide in the US between 2023-2024.

In a worst-case scenario, inhalation of nitrous oxide can lead to hypoxia, where the brain does not get enough oxygen. This can result in death. Regular inhalation can also lead to a Vitamin B12 deficiency which can cause nerve damage, degradation of the spinal column and even paralysis. The number of deaths attributed to nitrous oxide poisonings rose by more than 110% between 2019 and 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Possession of nitrous oxide was criminalised in the UK in 2023 after misuse among young people increased during the pandemic. But while many states have also outlawed the recreational use of the product in the US, it is still legal to sell as a culinary product. Only Louisiana has totally banned the retail sale of the gas.

Galaxy Gas, a major manufacturer, even offers recipes for dishes, including Chicken Satay with Peanut Chili Foam and Watermelon Gazpacho on their website. With flavours like Blue Raspberry or Strawberries and Cream, experts warn this loophole – as well as major changes in packaging and retail – has contributed to the rise in misuse.

Until recently users would take single-use plain metal canisters weighing around 8g and inhale the gas using a balloon. But when usage spiked during the pandemic, nitrous oxide manufacturers began selling much larger canisters online – as large as 2kg – and, eventually, in shops selling electronic vapes and other smoking paraphernalia.

Companies also began to package the gas in bright colourful canisters with designs featuring characters from computer games and television series.

Pat Aussem, of the Partnership to End Addiction, believes these developments are behind increased misuse:

“Even being called Galaxy Gas or Miami Magic is marketing,” she said. “If you have large canisters, then it means that more people can try it and use it and that can lead to a lot of peer pressure.”

The BBC reached out for comment to both Galaxy Gas and Miami Magic but did not receive a response. Amazon, where the gas is sold online, has said they are aware of customers misusing nitrous oxide and that they are working to implement further safety measures. In a response to reporting from CBS News, the BBC’s news partner in the US, Galaxy Gas maintained that the gas was intended for culinary use and that they include a message on their sites warning against misuse.

Concern about nitrous oxide misuse increased last year, after several videos of people using the product went viral online.

On social media, videos of young people getting high on gas became a trend. A video uploaded in July 2024 by an Atlanta-based fast-food restaurant featured a young man inhaling Strawberries and Cream flavoured nitrous oxide saying “My name’s Lil T, man”, his voice made deeper by the gas. To date the clip has been viewed about 40 million times and spawned thousands of copies.

Misuse also featured heavily in rap music videos and Twitch streaming. Guests tried it on the Joe Rogan Show and rappers including Ye (formerly Kanye West) spoke about abusing the substance publicly. Ye has since sued his dentist for “recklessly” supplying Ye with “dangerous amounts of nitrous oxide”.

In response to the trend, TikTok blocked searches for “galaxy gas,” and redirected users to a message offering resources about substance use and addiction. Rapper SZA also alerted her social media followers about its harms and slammed it for “being MASS marketed to black children”.

In March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an official alert warning against inhaling the gas after it “observed an increase in reports of adverse events after inhalation of nitrous oxide products”.

The FDA told the BBC that it “continues to actively track adverse events related to nitrous oxide misuse and will take appropriate actions to protect the public health”.

But for some, these warnings came too late.

In 2023, the family of a 25-year-old woman, Marissa Politte successfully sued Nitrous Distributor United Brands for $745m in damages after the radiology technician was killed by a driver high on nitrous oxide. The jury found the company responsible for selling the product in the knowledge that it would be misused.

“Marissa Politte’s death shouldn’t have happened in the first place, but my God, it should be the last,” Johnny Simon, the Politte family’s lawyer, said at the time. In the years since there have been several fatal traffic accidents involving the gas both in the US and the UK.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly36n88n56o

Forget tunnel ‘fits; Timothée Chalamet is making Celebrity Row his runway.

The native New Yorker has been a fan of the Knicks his entire life, long before hitting it big in Hollywood. But this playoff season, he’s taking things seriously — and suiting up accordingly.

Chalamet, 29, was just 3 years old the last time his hometown basketball team was in the NBA Championship; now, they’re just a few games away from tasting the finals, should they win the current series against the Indiana Pacers.

And while the tracksuits and work boots the Oscar nominee’s been wearing courtside might seem casual at first glance, there’s more to his game-day looks most than meets the eye.

Take his shoes, for example. On May 16, Chalamet hit Madison Square Garden wearing a pair of Timberland boots stamped with crosses in Knicks blue and orange — a custom creation from ultra-exclusive, ultra-expensive brand Chrome Hearts commissioned by the actor’s stylist, Taylor McNeill.

While a pair of standard-issue Timberlands retail for under $200, similar pairs from the brand’s Chrome Hearts collaboration will set you back anywhere from $19,000 to $30,000 on resale site Grailed.

For Game 6 of the semifinals series against the Celtics — which the Knicks won, advancing them to the Eastern Conference Finals — Chalamet teamed his boots with a custom navy velour tracksuit finished with orange stripes and the brand’s signature crosses.

He layered an orange-and-blue striped polo — collar popped — for a touch of prep reminiscent of his “Call Me By Your Name” wardrobe.

Chalamet wore the statement-making shoes again on May 22, this time with bright orange Chrome Hearts jeans accented with tonal red crosses; a similar style’s currently going for a casual $22,000 on Grailed.

On May 23, for Game 2 against the Pacers, he called for divine intervention in a custom Miracle Academy T-shirt by Nahmias and a blue-and-orange Chrome Hearts hat worth around $2,000.

And Chalamet traveled to Indianapolis on March 25, clad in a $4,200 Chrome Hearts shirt and an electric blue version of his wildly pricey jeans.

With just 10 brick-and-mortar stores in the United States and only a few small items available to buy online, Chrome Hearts is famous for its eye-watering price tags — but it’s the thirst for resale that truly takes the rock-and-roll brand’s mystique to absurd heights.

On Chrome Hearts’ website, one can pick up a three-pack of socks for $220 or a singular pair of boxer briefs for $85. The label offers homeware too, having partnering with Baccarat on $3,825 crystal decanters and $2,815 ashtrays.

A-list fans of the brand include the entire Kardashian-Jenner family, with Kim wearing a custom leather Chrome Hearts gown to the 2025 Met Gala, Kourtney pushing baby Rocky in a gothic black leather stroller and Kylie — Chalamet’s girlfriend — bringing a cross-covered leather tote worth $36,000 to the beach.

According to data shared with Page Six Style by eBay experts, Chrome Hearts was among the top-performing brands on the site in 2024 when it comes to average pre-owned sales price growth over the past five years, ranking alongside names like Dior, Gucci, Fendi, Off-White and Louis Vuitton.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/27/style/timothee-chalamet-courtside-knicks-outfits-keep-getting-crazier/

President Trump is pardoning “terrific people” Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are serving time in separate federal prisons for tax evasion and bank fraud.

Trump gave the couple’s children the news via a personal phone call shared on X Tuesday, saying, “It’s a terrible thing. It’s a terrible thing. But it’s a great thing because your parents are gonna be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow. It that OK? We’ll try getting it done tomorrow.”

He added, “I don’t know them, but give them my regards and wish them a good life.”

The Chrisleys’ youngest son, 19-year-old Grayson Chrisley, was heard saying, “Mr. President, I just wanna say thank you for bringing my parents back,” to which Trump replied, “Yeah, well, they were given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing. Pretty harsh treatment.”

He then asked the couple’s 27-year-old daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who was on the call, “Was your brother fighting also for this release, right?”

Grayson responded, “I go to the University of Alabama, and I saw you speak, and I thought, ‘That’s the greatest presidential speech I’ve ever heard in my life.’”

Flattered, POTUS returned the praise, saying, “What a great group of people. If you were in the audience, you have to be good. What a good school it was, and I love Alabama, you know? I love Alabama.”

He continued, “That school is really — that was very impressive when I was there. Yeah, I think I did a good job. I got a lot of good comments on that one, so I love doing that with great young people.”

Savannah — who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where she publicly thanked Trump for standing up against political prosecutions and fighting for families like hers — then jumped in to say that her brother “got kicked out of class for defending” Trump, calling it “pretty interesting.”

Trump, 78, was “surprised” to hear that since he believes “90 percent” of the college’s students would vote for him.

“But anyway, you keep fighting,” he urged the pair. “Congratulate your parents. I hear they’re terrific people. That should not have happened, so you just take care.”

After Savannah thanked the president again, he responded, “Boy, they have good children! You’re no longer children, but I’ll say it anyway. They have good children, don’t they, huh?”

Todd and Julie’s attorney Alex Little told Page Six in a statement, “This pardon corrects a deep injustice and restores two devoted parents to their family and community. President Trump recognized what we’ve argued from the beginning: Todd and Julie were targeted because of their conservative values and high profile. Their prosecution was tainted by multiple constitutional violations and political bias.”

Little, a partner at Litson PLLC, went on, “Todd and Julie’s case is exactly why the pardon power exists: to correct misguided prosecutions and reaffirm basic constitutional protections. Thanks to President Trump, the Chrisley family can now begin healing and rebuilding their lives.”

According to Little, the “Chrisley Knows Best” stars’ pardon petition detailed serious misconduct by the government, including an illegal raid, reliance on tainted evidence and a trial that featured false testimony from a key government witness.

He also pointed out that both Todd, 56, and Julie, 52, have demonstrated exemplary conduct during their respective incarcerations.

The Chrisleys were found guilty in June 2022. Their accountant, Peter Tatantino, was also convicted of a series of related charges, including aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns.

Todd was sentenced to 12 years, and Julie received a seven-year sentence.

“The Chrisleys have built an empire based on the lie that their wealth came from dedication and hard work,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum in November 2022.

“The jury’s unanimous verdict sets the record straight: Todd and Julie Chrisley are career swindlers who have made a living by jumping from one fraud scheme to another, lying to banks, stiffing vendors and evading taxes at every corner.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/27/celebrity-news/trump-pardons-todd-and-julie-chrisley-after-tax-evasion-and-bank-fraud-convictions/

When the Trump administration escalated its standoff with Harvard University, revoking its ability to enrol new international students, even ordering thousands of current foreign students to transfer or leave the United States, fear and confusion spread rapidly.

Now, after an intense backlash and a lawsuit by Harvard, the Trump’s administration’s plan to bar foreign students at Harvard has been blocked. For now.

A judge has issued a temporary restraining order, pending a set of hearings this week.

Some observers caution that the Harvard ban might prove to be a temporary tempest – a politically motivated stunt that could be reversed with time. After all, the US has seen abrupt policy shocks before that were later softened (think of the trade tariffs on allies and rivals alike).

Could the Harvard saga be another such episode? Possibly. But the damage may already be done. While the intensity of the storm could potentially ease, the days of unfettered US-Asia academic exchange may not fully return to the old normal.

Singapore and its neighbours must therefore prepare for a world where American universities are a less automatic choice and where Asia needs more self-reliance in training top talent.

FUTURE LEADERS LEFT IN LIMBO

It’s undeniable that the Trump administration’s clampdown, targeting a crown jewel of American higher education, marks an alarming escalation of politics intruding into academia.

The Trump administration has justified this unprecedented move by accusing Harvard of “fostering violence” and “antisemitism” and even of ties to China’s Communist Party.

The university in its lawsuit blasted the action as “unlawful” retaliation for its rejection of “the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students”.

On Sunday (May 25), US President Donald Trump defended the ban, saying that the home countries of some of Harvard’s international students are “not at all friendly to the United States”.

“We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries,” he said in a post on Truth Social.

Why does this matter to Singapore and Asia? Because for decades, an acceptance letter from a top US university was a ticket to unparalleled learning and networks.

US institutions, particularly Harvard, have helped shape generations of ministers, diplomats and civil servants from Asia and beyond. For instance, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong holds a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. Meanwhile, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and recently retired ministers Heng Swee Keat and Teo Chee Hean are also Harvard alumni.

About 6,800 international students – including 151 Singaporeans – are enrolled at Harvard in its current academic year, accounting for 27 per cent of the student body, according to university figures.

If Harvard, which has produced eight US presidents and is arguably the most prestigious of all the Ivy League schools, is off limits, many Asian elites may rethink going to the US at all. They may question if it’s worth investing in an American education if the welcome can be rescinded on a whim.

Indeed, US officials have warned that other universities could face similar bans. “This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said last week.

For Singapore, this has tangible implications. The country sends thousands of students to US universities annually. Many are on government scholarships or self-funded with hopes that an Ivy League pedigree will vault them into leadership tracks.

If those plans are now in doubt, Singapore’s public sector talent pipeline may need to adjust.

We could see more Singaporean scholars head to the United Kingdom, Europe or Australia instead, or remain at home for education.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SINGAPORE UNIVERSITIES?

Asia’s rise over the past decades has in part been fuelled by sending its best students westward; that option now comes with caveats. Singapore and its neighbours must therefore invest even more in developing regional centres of excellence.

This is already happening. China has poured resources into its C9 League universities, India is seeking to reform its higher education, and Singapore and South Korea boast some of the finest schools in the world. The trend can accelerate, spurred by necessity.

As global education becomes collateral in larger political fights, Singapore could emerge as a neutral academic waypoint.

The city has long punched above its weight in education. Its universities are world-class. Education here is not subject to partisan reversals. Institutions can plan across decades, not election cycles.

The outcome of the recent general election reinforces this stability.

With geopolitical tensions rising and US-China ties under strain, Singapore’s non-aligned stance and multicultural fabric make it an ideal meeting ground for scholars of all stripes.

We already see this in initiatives like the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, which was established in collaboration with Harvard but has come into its own as a training ground for future leaders from over 90 countries. Its faculty is ranked among the top 2 per cent of the world’s scientists.

A TIME TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE

The education of international students has been America’s “greatest soft power resource”, a term coined by Professor Joseph Nye of Harvard University, because when those students spend formative years immersed in American ideals and later become leaders back home, they naturally help align their countries’ outlooks with the US.

The Harvard ban will have consequences that outlast the current political theatre. Yet, as with previous storms, this too shall pass – if not fully, then partially. Policies can change, doors can reopen.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/harvard-university-trump-foreign-students-ban-impact-leaders-ministers-singapore-asia-5154576

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (May 27) that Canada could join his proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence system for free – but only if it becomes part of the United States.

Otherwise, it would cost Canada US$61 billion to be part of the system, said Trump, who has repeatedly called for the US’ northern neighbor to become the 51st state.

Canada has expressed interest in joining the missile system, plans for which Trump unveiled last week to defend against a wide array of enemy weapons, but has firmly rejected any loss of sovereignty.

“I told Canada, which very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System, that it will cost US$61 Billion Dollars if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.

“But (it) will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State. They are considering the offer!”

There was no immediate response from Canada to Trump’s claims.

Trump announced plans for the “Golden Dome” system a week ago, saying it would eventually cost around US$175 billion and would be operational by the end of his term in 2029.

Experts say the scheme faces huge technical and political challenges, and could cost far more than he has estimated to achieve its goals.

Trump also said at the time that Canada was interested in joining the missile system. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney then confirmed that his country had held “high-level” talks on the issue.

NATO members Canada and the US are partners in continental defence through the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

But the scheme now seems set to add to the tensions that Trump has sparked with Canada.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-golden-dome-canada-becomes-part-us-5156301

When 32-year-old Abdul Haqqim was deciding last year whether his new car should be an electric vehicle (EV) or an internal combustion engine (ICE) car, among his topmost concerns was its resale value.

There are multiple claims online that an EV’s resale value would tank due to factors such as battery degradation and the speed at which newer technologies emerge.

“Back then, the information that I had was not much, (and) there was hearsay that potentially the resale value would not be as high as a normal petrol car,” said Mr Haqqim, who is an account manager in an advertising firm.

Before he bought his car in May last year, he thoroughly researched EVs and their resale value. To that end, he was comforted that the EV he purchased came with a six-year battery warranty.

This allowed for a one-to-one swap to a new battery should the original battery fall below a certain capacity.

On whether new EV technology might render his vehicle outdated or redundant, lowering its resale value, he said “core technologies” such as battery life and charging have likely “plateaued”.

Other updates, such as ventilated seats, did not bother him as much.

“It’s more of a good-to-have than a necessity, just like how the difference between an iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 is just a bit,” he said.

But not everyone shares his optimism, even though EVs have grown in popularity in Singapore.

A total of 5,947 EVs were registered in the first four months this year, comprising about 40 per cent of new car registrations, according to the latest Land Transport Authority (LTA) data.

The data also showed that China’s BYD has overtaken Toyota as the top-selling car brand in Singapore, selling 3,002 cars and making up about 20 per cent of total vehicle sales in Singapore in the first four months this year.

Toyota sold 2,050 cars in that same period, while its main EV competitor Tesla sold 535 cars.

BYD’s growth has been exponential – from three cars in 2020, to 89 the following year, 786 in 2022 and 1,416 in 2023. Last year, its sales figure went up to 6,191.

Tesla’s sales have also boomed in the last four years, albeit at a slower pace. From 20 cars in 2020, it grew to 924 in 2021, then 875 the following year and 941 in 2023. Last year, it sold 2,384 cars.

CONCERNS OVER RESALE VALUE

Although sales of new EVs have increased quickly, some drivers remain sceptical of their resale value. Comments on online forums discussing the viability of EVs have raised such concerns.

“There isn’t much demand in the market for secondhand EVs, and in time to come, when EVs with newer or better technology are available, your resale value will tank even more,” read one comment on a Reddit thread discussing considerations drivers should have before buying an EV.

Mr Anson Lee, director of car dealer Euro Performance Asia, said he has found it “extremely hard to sell” secondhand EVs compared with ICE cars.

Of the 20 he has attempted to sell so far, he has only managed to move three. Some have been sitting in his shop for over a year.

For the three that he sold, all of them were about a year old, and he had to sell them at about 40 per cent below their initial price, he said, adding that he was able to sell similar ICE vehicles at about 10 to 15 per cent below their initial price.

One reason for the low demand for used EVs is that drivers see them as a “gadget”, he said.

Using a mobile phone analogy, he said: “If you compare it to an iPhone, for example, if you are using an iPhone 13, and the iPhone 15 comes out, will you still buy an iPhone 13?”

He added: “Even if you look at Tesla, when the Model Y came out, everyone sold away their Model 3, and people no longer wanted a Model 3.”

The Tesla Model 3 was first released in Singapore in 2021, and the newer Model Y was released the following year.

He added that the difference in functionality between secondhand and new EVs is “not that far off”, but drivers “want to buy the latest model”.

Secondhand car marketplace SGcarmart has also seen slower sales for used EVs.

Its editorial manager, Mr Desmond Chan, said that EVs tend to take around a third longer to sell than ICE cars.

According to statistics compiled by SGcarmart last year, 56 per cent of used EVs took more than 42 days to sell, while this figure was 44 per cent for used ICE cars.

Drivers who CNA spoke to shared concerns that their EVs might draw low resale values, with many buying EVs with the plan to use them for 10 years – the duration of the Certificate of Entitlement (COE).

In Singapore, a COE is required to own and use a vehicle. Drivers must bid for these certificates in open bidding exercises conducted twice a month.

“A LOT OF MISINFORMATION”

With these concerns at the top of some prospective buyers’ minds, could this prove a hurdle for Singapore’s EV push?

Among the government’s medium-term green goals is for all new car and taxi registrations to be of cleaner-energy models by 2030.

Responding to queries from CNA, an LTA spokesperson said that the EV resale market is “relatively new and evolving”, and prices have yet to achieve the “stable equilibrium” seen in the long-established ICE car market.

“While the high adoption of new EVs will eventually lead to a larger resale market, it is likely that the used EV market will experience a period of adjustment before reaching the same level of maturity as the ICE car market,” added the spokesperson.

One transport analyst said that there is “a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding” about the EV resale market.

Associate Professor of Economics at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) Walter Theseira said he is “not sure” if claims of poor resale values are supported by data, particularly for EVs designed and built after 2020.

“A good EV from 2020 is still very competitive in functionality to one designed in 2025,” he said.

“While early adopters may have suffered great reductions in resale value, it is much less likely that today’s EVs will be surpassed significantly within a few years.

“The narrative of low resale value has, I think, been driven by vested interests, particularly in the resale car space where the majority of the trade is non-EVs and where there is little expertise in handling EVs,” he added.

Consumers and dealers lack understanding of some EV functions such as charging, battery degradation and EV tax policy, he said.

“Actually, it’s quite a lot of information, so I can understand why (dealers) are reluctant … If the buyer asks questions, they may not feel confident to answer,” he said.

He added that a lot of what buyers ask for is “model specific information”.

“So just because (dealers know about) some BYD and Tesla models, it doesn’t mean they can answer a question about another EV.”

BATTERY HEALTH

It has not hindered sceptics, and the analogy some go back to is that of a mobile phone’s battery health.

“The battery will degrade and it will deplete just like your handphone,” said Mr Lee, the car dealer.

If you keep “fast charging” the battery of an EV with a 300km range, it will “maybe drop to 250km, 230km”, he added.

While it is true that the batteries of an EV will degrade over time, the way that it does so is “far better than those of an iPhone”, said Associate Professor Zhou Yi from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).

For example, the EV battery standard in China stipulates that it retains a minimum “state of certified energy” of 70 per cent after eight to 10 years.

EV batteries have advanced power management systems that regulate charging and discharging, he noted.

He said that EV charging infrastructure in most countries, including Singapore, is well regulated, maintained, and of “good standard”.

“EV batteries are far better in design, management, charging and maintenance than those of phones,” he added.

Agreeing, Prof Tseng King Jet from SIT said that most mobile phones are not expected to be used beyond four years. That is why reputable mobile phone brands do not have batteries lasting beyond that time.

“EVs, on the other hand, are generally expected to last up to 10 years,” he said.

“Hence, reputable EV manufacturers are currently ensuring this expectation can be met by offering 10-year warranties.”

Some EV distributors in Singapore have rolled out 10-year warranties for brands such as South Korea’s Hyundai and Kia, and Chinese brands Aion, XPENG, Zeekr, Skyworth and BYD.

Israel forcing Germany to reconsider support, says former Israeli ambassador to Berlin

Shimon Stein, who served as Israel’s ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2007, spoke to DW about German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent shift in tone towards Israel.

Israel’s European allies have grown increasingly frustrated over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the worsening humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.

Merz has said that Germany cannot remain silent if Israel continues to break international law in its war with Hamas. In Merz’s coalition government, some have called for a halt on arms exports to Israel.

“We have reached a point when German interests are not being upheld the way it understands its interest with respect to whatever Israel does,” Stein said.

He highlighted Israel’s military objectives in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “undefined total victory” and the “crazy plan” proposed by US President Donald Trump to turn “Gaza into a Riviera and evict two million Palestinians.”

According to US President Donald Trump, nuclear talks with Iran last Friday showed “some real progress, serious progress.”

“We’ve had some very, very good talks with Iran,” Trump told reporters in northern New Jersey before returning to Washington on Sunday.

“And I don’t know if I’ll be telling you anything good or bad over the next two days, but I have a feeling I might be telling you something good,” Trump said.

“Both the US and Iran are taking the current negotiations very seriously,” Sina Azodi, assistant professor of Middle East policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and an expert on international relations with a focus on Iran’s foreign policy and nuclear non-proliferation, told DW. “They want to reach an agreement,” she said.

According to Azodi, a deal with Iran is of great importance to the US government. “There are three central foreign policy issues for the White House: the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza and Iran’s nuclear program. An agreement with Iran would be considered a major foreign policy success,” she said.

Meanwhile, the government in Iran is keen on a possible deal, Azodi adds. Iran is running out of time for the negotiations as the so-called snapback mechanism, a clause in the current agreement, is coming closer by the hour, she added.

In this case, all UN sanctions against Iran could come back in full force if no agreement is reached.

Secondly, Israel would not attack Iran without the consent of the US. As long as negotiations between the US and Iran continue, such an attack is unlikely, politicians in Tehran believe.

“Thirdly, the economic crisis in Iran continues to worsen,” Azodi told DW. Sanctions are having a massive impact and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has promised to work towards lifting them. However, so far, nothing has been achieved.

New interim agreement?

Under the mediation of Oman, the US and Iran began talks on a possible new nuclear agreement in mid-April. As the United States and Iran have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1979, they have only held talks via third countries.

The first four rounds of talks were unsuccessful as Washington and Tehran were unable to reach an agreement on uranium enrichment. Tehran insists on being allowed to continue enriching uranium for civilian purposes, while the US insists on a complete halt to enrichment.

According to reports in the Italian daily newspaper La Republica, Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi proposed an interim agreement, which is now being drafted.

Also, a high-ranking US official told the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom that the possibility of a provisional agreement had been discussed. This would involve freezing uranium enrichment for an initial period of three years in return for the sanctions being partially lifted.

It would not be the first provisional agreement between the US and Iran. Both sides had already signed an interim agreement in Geneva in November 2013. The negotiations subsequently led to Iran’s nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, in 2015.

However, that JCPOA agreement was terminated by US President Trump in 2018 during his first term in office. Back then, Trump said that he wanted to “get a better deal” with Iran than his predecessor Barack Obama. The Iranian response was to gradually distance itself from the agreement.

Today, the country is closer to building a nuclear bomb than ever before, experts claim.

Israel views the Iranian nuclear program as a threat to its existence. The Iranian leadership does not recognize Israel and regularly threatens to eliminate it.

Officially, however, Tehran emphasizes that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. But the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed concerns. According to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state enriching to this level.

A face-saving solution

The physicist Behrooz Bayat says that Iran needs a face-saving solution in order to navigate the issue of uranium enrichment. Bayat worked as an external consultant for the IAEA and is considered an expert on Iran’s nuclear program.

In his view, one option for Iran could be to form a consortium of Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries would then work together on uranium enrichment.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Iran also proposed in early May to involve the Gulf states in its enrichment program in order to refute US objections that Iran does not provide transparency.

However, it remains unclear how such a model could be implemented in practice, emphasizes Bayat. For Iran, it would be a face-saving solution that would mean it could continue to formally enrich uranium, even if its implementation is highly unlikely.

Regional support

Meanwhile, the Gulf states support the current talks between Iran and the US. “For the countries in the region, it is very important that there is no new war in the Middle East,” Sina Azodi told DW. “Anyone investing in growth and progress needs security and stability,” she added.

In 2019, as tensions between the US and Iran increased during Donald Trump’s first presidency, the Yemeni Houthi rebels, who are allied with Iran, attacked Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil and gas company, Aramco.

“After the attack, Riyadh expected a clear reaction from the US as its most important ally. But this failed to materialize,” Azodi recalls. “Saudi Arabia came to the realization that stronger ties with Iran could be strategically more advantageous,” she said.

In turn, bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have changed significantly in the past years. In October 2024, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and met Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/iran-us-nuclear-talks-is-a-new-deal-imminent/a-72687249

A US-backed aid group has started operations in Gaza amid widespread criticism from the humanitarian sector, international observers, and its own executive director, who has already resigned.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been tasked with distributing aid in the Gaza Strip, a process that reportedly commenced on Monday.

It potentially marks the most substantial distribution of food supplies in Gaza since Israel began blocking aid agencies from entering the region at the beginning of March.

However the privately-run GHF has only been allowed to operate in the Gaza Strip with the endorsement of Israel and the United States. Other long-established humanitarian groups, including the UN’s own network of aid agencies, remain blocked from entering the region.

Because of this, GHF’s operation has come under widespread condemnation for not operating under humanitarian principles.

What is the GHF and what has it done so far?

The GHF is registered in Geneva, Switzerland and, according to the Reuters news agency, operates with private security and logistics operators UG Solutions and Safe Reach Solutions.

It is the centerpiece of a US and Israel-backed plan to distribute aid in Gaza.

Communications from the GHF indicated it will establish four distribution sites to deliver food and medical supplies to Gazans, distribute 300 million meals within its first 90 days of operation and reach one million Palestinian people within a week.

Around two million Palestinians live in Gaza.

GHF’s operation began on Monday, May 27, just hours after its executive director, former US Marine Jake Wood resigned.

Wood had been the face of the organization since it was thrust into the spotlight as the aid provider of choice for the US and Israel. He previously ran disaster relief efforts through Team Rubicon, which he co-founded in 2010.

In a statement, Wood said GHF was unable to conform “to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.”

DONALD Trump has taken another swipe at Putin, warning that he is “playing with fire” as his frustration with the reckless Russian bubbles over.

Furious rhetoric from the US president has intensified over the past few days as Russia has blitzed Ukraine and shown signs of preparing for a major onslaught.

In a Truth Social post, Trump seethed: “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD.

“He’s playing with fire!”

Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Medvedev responded by saying the only truly bad thing to worry about was World War Three.

He said: “Regarding Trump’s words about Putin ‘playing with fire’ and ‘really bad things’ happening to Russiam I only know of one REALLY BAD thing: WWIII.

“I hope Trump understands this!”

Putin has been stalling peace negotiations for weeks and cranking up the heat in Ukraine rather than de-escalating – playing Trump for a fool.

On Tuesday it was revealed that Vlad’s marauding forces had snatched another four villages in Ukraine’s Sumy region.

This was the area from which Ukraine launched its surprise invasion to take Russian land in Kursk, which Moscow only recently reclaimed.

Sumy governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote in a post: “The enemy is continuing attempts to advance with the aim of setting up a so-called buffer zone”.

He said the villages of Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka had been overrun and the resident evacuated.

Trump’s bash at Putin on Tuesday was the latest in a series that charts his growing irritation.

Russia launched a cloud of 367 drones and missiles at cities across Ukraine over the weekend – the largest of the war so far – prompting Trump to brand him “crazy”.

He said: “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? He’s killing a lot of people. I’m not happy about that.”

And later posted online: “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him.

“He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers.

“Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.”

He added: “I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”

The Kremlin sought to lower the temperature – although hinted that Trump was merely being “emotional”.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organising and launching this negotiation process.

“Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions.”

At least 13 Ukrainians were killed in the weekend strikes, including three children.

Trump’s comments also come amid reports that Russia is amassing a 50,000-strong force on the border with Ukraine, in preparation for a renewed onslaught.

Putin is reportedly preparing for a major push to take more land in the north east.

Military analysts believe he is trying to press home his advantage and capture more Ukrainian land.

They warn that Putin only has a “four-month window” to get a breakthrough in Ukraine this year.

And this could be the beginning of Russia’s summer offensive targeting the border city of Kharkiv – the “fortress” city of Ukraine which put up the maximum resistance at the start of the invasion.

Reacting to the reports, German Chancellor Freidrich Merz predicted that peace was still a long way off.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14335414/trump-slams-putin-warning-playing-fire/

FBI deputy director Dan Bongino’s years-old theory about cocaine found in the White House is resurfacing after the agency announced it would re-investigate the incident.

Bongino, who on Monday announced the new probe into the mystery drugs, previously alleged that there is “zero” chance the Biden family wasn’t involved in bringing the substance into the building.

“There’s absolutely ZERO chance anyone other than a family member brought that cocaine inside the White House complex,” he posted on X two years ago.

“No chance that would make it past the mag/security checkpoints.

“Family bypasses those.”

Bongino posted his suspicions on X two years ago, following the discovery of a dime-sized bag inside a cubby near an entrance to the West Wing on July 2, 2023.

The substance inside the bag tested positive for cocaine, leading many people to allege that Biden’s son, Hunter, was responsible for it.

There is no evidence to suggest the drugs was linked to Hunter or any other member of the Biden family.

The former president’s son had previously struggled with crack cocaine addiction and was seen leaving the White House just two days before the drugs were found.

Hunter, 53 at the time, was visiting the Capitol to celebrate Independence Day with his family.

Despite his years of addiction, Biden’s youngest son says he’s completely sober.

“Makes sense. I cannot imagine a staffer bringing drugs into the White House, even in the Biden Admin,” one woman replied to Bongino’s post.

“That would be beyond idiotic.”

The Secret Service closed its investigation just 10 days after the drugs were found in 2023, citing a lack of evidence.

“Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered,” the agency said at the time.

In February 2025, Trump echoed Bongino’s hunch about the Biden family, questioning why there was no substantial proof found.

Trump assumed that there were usually “hundreds and even thousands” of fingerprints on the locker where the drugs were found, but there weren’t when investigators arrived.

“And when they went to look at it, it was absolutely stone cold, wiped dry,” Trump told The Spectator.

Since stepping back into the White House, Trump said he’s even more convinced “either Joe or Hunter” was behind the scandal.

While the owner of the mysterious bag of cocaine has yet to be named, that may be changing soon.

On May 26, Bongino announced that the FBI would investigate the case, along with a couple of other instances that displayed “potential public corruption.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14336026/biden-cocaine-scandal-dan-bongino-theory/

US President Donald Trump called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “crazy” on Sunday (May 25) after Moscow launched a deadly barrage of drones against Ukraine, even as the warring countries completed a large-scale prisoner exchange.

At least 13 people were killed when Russia launched a record number of drones against Ukraine overnight to Sunday.

“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” he added.

His comments marked a rare rebuke to Putin, whom he often speaks of with admiration. The US leader has, however, expressed increasing frustration with Moscow’s position in deadlocked truce negotiations with Kyiv.

Earlier Sunday, Trump told reporters he was “not happy” about the latest attack on Ukraine and that he was “absolutely” considering increasing sanctions on Moscow.

“I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.

“TERROR”

Ukraine’s emergency services described Sunday an atmosphere of “terror” in the country after a second straight night of massive Russian air strikes, including on the capital Kyiv.

Those killed in the latest Russian strikes included victims aged eight, 12 and 17 in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, officials said.

“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

“The silence of America, the silence of others around the world only encourages Putin,” he said, adding: “Sanctions will certainly help.”

In his social media post, Trump also criticised Zelenskyy, a frequent target of his ire, accusing him of “doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does”.

“Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” he said.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, also called for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war”.

“Last night’s attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine,” she said on social media.

On a Tuesday morning at a Bukit Batok bowling alley, the sound of clattering pins echoes off the walls.

At one end, a couple of youngsters celebrates strikes exuberantly. At the opposite, a group of older men are racking up the points in more stoic fashion.

And then there is Mr William Thong.

A familiar fixture – he bowls here multiple times a week – Mr Thong has his own locker, his own bowling shoes and a flask of teh-o to keep him going.

Mr Thong stands out from the other amateur bowlers.

His gait is slower and his technique guided more by feel than vision, but he is no less adept at picking up the odd strike or two.

Eyes locked on the target, Mr Thong sends an eight-pound ball swirling down the lane. This time, there are still a few stubborn pins left standing, but he keeps at it for the next hour or so.

After all, what keeps the 93-year-old going is not the score flashing on the electronic screen, but his love for the sport.

BOWLING WITH HALF AN EYE

In his younger days, Mr Thong was an all-rounder in sports, who ran cross-country and played basketball and football.

His foray into bowling only began in his early 20s, after joining an American firm.

“I wanted to please the president (of the company) that I could I also bowl. I joined him and he was happy,” he recalled.

He eventually grew into the sport and competed at local amateur tournaments.

“I enjoy getting strikes, getting spares. Especially the speed (of the ball),” said Mr Thong.

According to Mr Alfred George Pillay, a fellow bowler who has known Mr Thong for close to a decade, the latter was also a bowling captain in his fourties.

As much as China sees almost every aspect of life as an issue of national security, it has never published a white paper on the topic – unlike the United States where each administration typically puts out at least one National Security Strategy. That changed on May 12.

China released its first national security white paper, articulating official positions and strategic priorities. Rooted in the “comprehensive national security” concept President Xi Jinping introduced in 2014, it reflects continuity rather than a departure from past practices.

But if it’s an ongoing practice, why did China feel the need to release it as an official document now?

It’s not hard to see why. As the world undergoes unprecedented changes, China aims to project strength, to promote itself as a stabilising force and legitimate counterweight to the US that is shaking up the established international order.

The white paper tells us that even though China has repeatedly said it will “never seek hegemony”, it still wants to remind the world of the rules it plays by.

Since Mr Xi came to power, China’s definition of national security has become broad and all-encompassing, extending over some 20 domains. Beyond traditional domains like politics and the military, non-traditional fields are also seen as risks to national security – from the economy, food and culture to resources, outer space and artificial intelligence. In 2023, China briefly considered a law to ban clothing that “hurts national feelings”.

Still, the white paper – titled China’s National Security In The New Era – offers valuable insight into how Chinese leaders perceive national security, how these concerns shape national interests, and how the government intends to address emerging challenges.

ASIA-PACIFIC AS ARENA OF BIG POWER CONTEST

China sees the Asia-Pacific as the focal point of great power competitions.

Despite previously advocating that the region should not be “an arena for big power contest”, Chinese leaders now recognise that it has become an inevitability. Compared to the Biden era, US President Donald Trump’s confrontational and unilateralist approach presents a frontal challenge to China’s position in Asia.

The direct threat posed by the US is a dominant theme throughout. US efforts to strengthen regional alliances and expand military presence are depicted as exacerbating existing conflicts and territorial disputes involving China. The white paper also blamed the US’ Asian allies for participating in so-called “exclusive cliques” led by Washington.

To counter these, China is positioning itself as a champion of free trade and multilateralism. It calls for leveraging the United Nations as a platform for resolving differences, advocates deeper strategic ties with Russia, and closer engagement with European countries and Global South nations.

China aims to expand security cooperation with ASEAN member states, to offset the impact of the US’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, which it characterises as the “Asia-Pacific version of NATO” designed to contain China.

There are four “red lines” that the US must not cross: “the Taiwan issue, democracy and human rights, China’s path and institutions, and the country’s right to development”.

The last point in particular has gained importance given the spate of US tariffs and export controls, with China affirming a forceful response to any effort to stifle its development, vowing to confront “tariff wars, trade wars, technology wars and public opinion wars”.

The favourable outcome of recent US-China trade negotiations appears to have hardened Beijing’s resolve to stand firm in future conflicts with Washington.

Joe Biden’s aides were willing to do “undemocratic things” to cover up the former president’s mental decline and keep him in power for another four years, the author of a bombshell book revealed Sunday.

Biden’s team of unelected staffers felt justified in “picking up the slack” for the faltering commander in chief and shielding him from the public because they viewed President Trump as an “existential threat” to democracy, Alex Thompson, co-author of “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” told Fox News’ Shannon Bream.

“Who would have been running the White House in a second Biden term?” Bream asked Thompson, after noting that he quoted a long-time Biden aide in his book “basically admitting he shouldn’t be running again.”

“Well, this person went on to say that when you’re voting for a president, you’re voting for the aides around him,” the author and Axios journalist revealed.

“But these aides were not even Senate-confirmed aides,” Thompson pointed out. “These are White House aides, these were unelected people.”

Bream highlighted a passage from Thompson’s book, where one anonymous aide argued Biden “just had to win, and then he could disappear for four years. He’d only have to show proof of life every once in a while … His aides could pick up the slack.”

Thompson explained that in his reporting for the book with co-author Jake Tapper, it became clear that many in Biden’s orbit were willing to go to extreme lengths if it meant keeping Trump out of the Oval Office.

“If you believe — and I think a lot of these people do sincerely believe that Donald Trump was and is an existential threat to democracy — you can rationalize anything, including sometimes doing undemocratic things, which I think is what this person is talking about,” Thompson told Bream.

In his book, Thompson referred to the small group of people in Biden’s inner circle running the White House as the “Politburo,” noting that the term was also used by some within the administration.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/05/26/us-news/biden-aides-were-willing-to-do-undemocratic-things-to-keep-faltering-president-in-power-original-sin-author/

At least 54 Palestinians have been killed – most of them in a school building sheltering displaced families – during Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight, hospital directors have told the BBC.

Fahmi Al-Jargawi School in Gaza City was housing hundreds of people from Beit Lahia, currently under intense Israeli military assault. At least 35 were reported to have been killed when the school was hit.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence said multiple bodies, including those of children, were recovered – many severely burned, after fires engulfed two classrooms serving as living quarters.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted “a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control centre” there.

The IDF said the area was being used “by the terrorists to plan… attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops”, and accused Hamas of using “the Gazan population as human shields”.

Video footage shared online showed large fires consuming parts of the school, with graphic images of severely burned victims, including children, and survivors suffering critical injuries.

Faris Afana, Northern Gaza ambulance service manager, said he arrived at the scene with crews to find three classrooms ablaze.

“There were sleeping children and women in those classrooms,” he said. “Some of them were screaming but we couldn’t rescue them due to the fires.

“I cannot describe what we saw due to how horrific it was.”

Local reports said the head of investigations for the Hamas police in northern Gaza, Mohammad Al-Kasih, was among the dead, along with his wife and children.

Separately, a strike on a house in Jabalia in northern Gaza killed 19 people, according to the director of al-Ahli hospital Dr Fadel el-Naim. The Israeli military has not yet commented on what was being targeted.

The twin attacks are part of a broader Israeli offensive that has escalated in the northern part of the enclave over the past week.

The IDF said it hit 200 targets across Gaza in 48 hours as it continued its operations against what it called “terrorist organisations”.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the BBC on Monday that the group had agreed to the latest ceasefire proposal offered by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

However, Witkoff told Reuters that what he had seen was “completely unacceptable” and that the proposal being discussed was not the same as his.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said the plan agreed to by Hamas includes the release of 10 Israeli hostages held by the group in two phases.

In exchange, there would be a 70-day truce, a gradual partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners, including several hundred serving long or life sentences.

The BBC has approached the Israeli government for comment on the proposal. Israeli media quoted anonymous Israeli officials as saying the plan would be rejected.

As mediation efforts continued, an Israeli strike on the home of a Palestinian doctor in Gaza killed nine of her 10 children on Friday. Dr Alaa al-Najjar’s 11-year-old son was injured, along with her husband, Hamdi al-Najjar, who is in critical condition.

The nine children – Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gebran, Eve, Rival, Sayden, Luqman and Sidra – were aged between just a few months old and 12. The Israeli military has said the incident is under review.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said two of its staff were killed in a strike on their home in Khan Younis the following day.

The killing of Ibrahim Eid, a weapon contamination officer, and Ahmad Abu Hilal, a security guard at the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah “points to the intolerable civilian death toll in Gaza”, the ICRC said, repeating its call for a ceasefire.

On Sunday, the head of a controversial US and Israeli-approved organisation planning to use private firms to deliver aid to Gaza resigned.

In a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), executive director Jake Wood said it had become apparent that plans to set up distribution hubs would not meet the “humanitarian principles” of independence and neutrality.

The UN and various humanitarian organisations have said they will not co-operate with the GHF, accusing it of being discriminatory over who will receive food.

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on 2 March that lasted 11 weeks before it allowed limited aid to enter the territory in the face of warnings of famine and mounting international outrage.

The Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian affairs in Gaza, Cogat, said 107 lorries carrying aid were allowed into Gaza on Sunday. The UN says much more aid – between 500 to 600 lorries a day – is needed.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz9yjj54v3xo

A Palestinian official said on Monday that Hamas has agreed to a proposal by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for a Gaza ceasefire, only for an Israeli official to deny that the proposal was Washington’s and add that no Israeli government could accept it.
Witkoff also rejected the notion that Hamas had accepted his offer for a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza, telling Reuters that what he had seen was “completely unacceptable” and the proposal being discussed was not the same as his.

The Palestinian official, who is close to Hamas, had told Reuters that the proposal would see the release of 10 hostages and a 70-day ceasefire and was received by Hamas through mediators.
“The proposal includes the release of 10 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas in two groups in return for a 70-day ceasefire and a partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” the source said.
It also included the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, including hundreds serving lengthy prison terms.
An Israeli official dismissed the proposal, saying no responsible government could accept such an agreement and rejecting the assertion that the deal matched one proposed by Witkoff.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said in a recorded message on social media he “hoped very much” he would be able to deliver developments on the subject of Israel’s fight against Hamas and releasing the hostages, “today and if not today then we will tomorrow”.
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the video.
On March 18, Israel effectively ended a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas and renewed its military campaign in Gaza. Hamas and allied factions began firing rockets and attacks two days later.
Hamas has said it is willing to free all remaining hostages seized by its gunmen in attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and agree to a permanent ceasefire if Israel pulls out completely from Gaza.
Netanyahu has said Israel would only be willing to agree to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of hostages, vowing that war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.

Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after the Hamas-led militants’ cross-border attack, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies, with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-agrees-us-proposal-gaza-ceasefire-palestinian-official-says-2025-05-26/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he is considering taking $3 billion of previously awarded grant money for scientific and engineering research away from Harvard University and giving it to trade schools.
His comments on his social media platform Truth Social come less than a week after his administration sought to block the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students as part of Trump’s extraordinary effort to seize some government control of U.S. academia.

Trump, a Republican, has frozen some $3 billion in federal grants to Harvard in recent weeks, complaining that it has hired Democrats, “Radical Left idiots and ‘bird brains'” as professors. Harvard, a private university, has sued to restore the funding, saying the cuts are an unconstitutional attack on its free speech rights and unlawful.
Most of that grant money is appropriated by Congress for the National Institutes of Health to disburse to fund biomedical research after a lengthy application process by individual scientists, work that is not typically done at trade schools.
It was not clear whether Trump was referring to Harvard grants his administration has already frozen. Harvard has said it was told that virtually all of its federal grant awards were revoked earlier in May, in a series of letters by the NIH, the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense and other agencies.

The letters each said the grants were being suspended because they “no longer effectuate agency priorities.”
Harvard did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. The White House did not respond to questions about the specific funds Trump wants to repurpose or how it could be reallocated to trade schools under the law.
On Friday, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, a policy the university said was part of Trump’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence.”
The order provides temporary relief to thousands of international students, who were faced with potentially having to transfer under a policy that the university in Cambridge, Massachusetts called a “blatant violation” of the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws.

It said the move would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, representing 27% of total enrollment and a significant chunk of its revenue from tuition fees.
The move was the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House, as Trump seeks to compel universities, law firms, news media, courts and other institutions to align with his agenda. Trump and fellow Republicans have long accused elite universities of left-wing bias.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-hes-considering-taking-3-billion-grants-harvard-giving-it-trade-2025-05-26/

Unlike China, India is seen as slow-playing its Arctic card, choosing to cooperate with the Council and present itself as a ‘responsible stakeholder’ by engaging with all sides on key issues.

The race to ‘conquer’ the world’s final frontier is gathering steam and India is gently but firmly positioning itself in that contest, one which China has also entered and which has been given added urgency by Russian military actions in 2014 (the Crimean War) and 2022 (invasion of Ukraine).

The ‘rewards’ are staggering though – from oil and minerals to drinking water, from access to faster shipping routes to a possibly decisive upper hand in the global geopolitical and military arena.

A remote and largely inhospitable region of the world, the Arctic has emerged as the next global geopolitical and geostrategic hotspot, possibly even the next battlefield, thanks to climate change and the warming of polar ice caps. But its strategic importance has never really been in doubt.

It has, for the most part, been a question of access, specifically terrain so bleak it made extracting oil and other natural resources, navigating the waters, or maintaining military bases near-impossible.

Where is the Arctic?
What we identify as the Arctic is the northernmost region of our planet. The common definition is that area within the Arctic Circle, a line of latitude about 66.5 degrees north of the Equator.

Within this area are the Arctic Ocean and the polar ice caps, and over four million people from eight countries – the United States, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

There are also an estimated 500,000 people from indigenous tribal communities.

Together, these countries and communities inside the Arctic make up the Arctic Council and “carry the role as stewards of the region”, and whom India has been ‘engaging’ for several years.

In 2013 India was made an ‘observer nation’ of the Council.

What is in the Arctic?
Compressed into approximately 14.5 million square kilometres, the Arctic holds 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 per cent of all undiscovered natural gas stores.

That amounts to 90 billion barrels of oil, 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, which are hydrocarbons extracted from natural gas or crude oil.re

It also contains vast reserves of coal, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, bauxite, diamonds, and sulphides, and also millions of tons of phosphate used to make fertilisers.

The Arctic also holds an estimated 20 of the world’s freshwater reserves, which is a commodity that could well become more valuable than any other in the not-too-distant future.

There is gold too; the Fort Knox Gold Mine in Alaska is one of the largest in the world.

And Arctic shipping routes could allow maritime trade to cut down on 8,000 km as they ferry the estimated billions of tons of cargo shipped annually between the Europe and Asia.

Why is the Arctic important now
Because it is melting, at a rate nearly four times faster than anywhere else in the world

Ice levels in September 2017, for example, was 25 per cent smaller than end-of-summer averages from 1981 to 2010, and has been melting at an unprecedented rate – over 12 per cent per decade.

Global warming means the Arctic’s ice caps and the vast stretches of frozen ice that otherwise make it impossible for most ships to pass – certainly not without an ice-breaker plowing a path.

Melting polar ice caps are an existential crisis for humanity; rising sea levels will flood coastal cities and low-lying areas, including Bangkok, Amsterdam, Ho Chi Minh City, and even parts of London.

But they open the door to begin extracting those billions of barrels of oil, a treasure trove countries doing the extraction, for example, could use to reduce dependence on West Asian suppliers.

It also opens the door to millions of tons of coal and precious metals under the ice.

Overall, the melting of the ice caps has woken the world to the natural resources and strategic importance of the Arctic, both of which interest countries beyond the Council, including India.

In fact, in May 2025, the Observer Research Foundation and the Arctic Circle, a 60-nation “network of international dialogue and cooperation” met in Delhi to discuss Asia’s involvement in Arctic affairs.

India v China for the Arctic
Back in 2018, China’s first Arctic Policy spoke of a “mutually beneficial polar partnership”, which would have included linking its Belt Road Initiative to the Northern Sea Route to create the ‘Polar Silk Route’.

The resulting passageway, Beijing said, would shorten maritime travel time to Europe by 40 per cent.

The longer route, in use now, sees Chinese ships sail down south, through the Malacca Strait (between the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia, a chokepoint that allows the Indian Navy to monitor maritime traffic off its coastline), across the Indian Ocean, and then back up through the Suez Canal.

Since then, i.e., since articulating its Arctic Policy, China has been called itself as a ‘near-Arctic state’, and has sought a seat at the Arctic Council, something that is not likely to be granted.

However, Beijing too was given ‘observer nation’ status.

For China the Arctic quest is more about trade, really, than anything else.

As one of the world’s largest manufacturers (of pretty much everything), it needs fast and reliable distribution routes, and ships are generally cost-effective compared to planes.

And the Malacca chokepoint isn’t ideal, particularly if there should be military conflict with India.

Faster maritime trade is a big attraction for India too.

India’s involvement with the Arctic dates back to 1920, when the Svalbard Treaty was signed in Paris. And today it is one of a handful of nations to have a permanent base in the Arctic.

Set up in 2008 and called ‘Himadri’, it is in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, roughly 1,200km from the North Pole, and has provided field and laboratory support to scientists back home.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/arctic-circle-race-india-vs-china-ndtv-explains-india-vs-china-and-other-nations-in-race-for-arctics-oil-gas-8512718#pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

KILLER camouflage drones the size of insects could be used by Russia and China to commit untraceable murders, an ex-Google futurist warns.

Tracey Follows, who has also worked with Amazon and Meta, warned they could even carry deadly pathogens and be used to spy on the UK.

And it is a prediction which is a chilling echo of the Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation”.

The near future sci-fi show envisioned of world where robot bees designed to pollinate flowers could be hijacked to commit murder.

The Future of You author told The Sun: “In time, one expects a drone to have the situational awareness to carry out an attack autonomously without a human in the loop.

“The big question is what’s the payload on these drones, what are you actually attaching to the drone?

“Increasingly, over the last four or five years, I’ve been reading about viruses and how you can potentially attach a pathogen to these sorts of weapons.

“So not only can you identify somebody personally, you can then attack them with a virus, for example.”

Terrifyingly, she warned it could open the door for rogue nations like Russia to assassinate targets on UK soil without leaving a trace.

Moscow was infamously accused of poisoning ex-Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury in 2018.

Skirpal and his daughter, Yulia, survived but local woman Dawn Sturgess was inadvertently killed when she sprayed what she thought was perfume on her wrists. Russia denies any involvement.

Before that, Skripal was convicted of spying for Britain in 2006 and jailed for 13 years.

But in future, drone attacks could make it impossible to identify a culprit.

Follows, who founded consultancy service Futuremade, said: “If you can camouflage these micro weapons, and if you’ve got technology that’s so advanced that the enemy country doesn’t know what’s happened, you can’t really trace exactly what’s happened.

“If you’re adding a virus as a payload onto a drone, it could be a completely new virus.

“You may not know what that virus is in your country and it’s attacked somebody individually because it’s autonomously targeted and activated against that person.”

Follows, ranked in the world’s Top 30 Futurists by Global Gurus, added: “I don’t think it’s just Russia and China that one has to worry about.

“I think it’s anybody, in any country, in any region who is starting to integrate AI into the military and into these lethal weapons.”

Drone technology continues to advance at an alarming rate as the AI explosion shows no signs of slowing down.

This month, chilling images emerged of a new Chinese “mothership” drone carrier that can launch swarms of mini-drones.

The small drones would then work together to “swarm” enemies. State broadcaster CCTV said its inaugural mission will launch on Monday.

Follows warned that not only are drones becoming better at identifying targets, but people are simply becoming easier to track down.

She said: “I spoke to Erik Prince. He’s the biggest kind of private military contractor in the world, and the founder of Blackwater.

“Among other things, he co-founded a company called Unplugged, which brings privacy to your mobile phone. So it doesn’t collect any data.”

She added: “So he’s very aware of communications technologies and how they can be used for surveillance.

“He talked to me about the way in which drones can do precision targeting now if the data is available on your AI, a sort of advertising ID, if you like.

“So if you’ve got stuff on your phone and you’ve got an identification on your phone, if you’re carrying that with you, the drone can identify that and that can be set to attack.”

As technology continues to advance rapidly, so too do security and privacy concerns.

Follows warns that drones may also pave the way to record personal conversations without consent.

Worse, they could even film us without us being aware we’re being filmed at all.

That would therefore spark a race with the technology used to detect them.

Asked if drones the size of flies will one day be able to film us, she added: “They probably will be able to, yes.

“DARPA (a US military research agency) used to have a program called SHRIMP and they put it out as a competition for researchers, engineers and computer scientists to come back and say, how could you do these tiny micro drones?

“The problem was with the energy as they’re so small. You can’t get the energy in them for them to be transported for a long enough distance or carry out the actions you want them to.

“So they had this short range micro micro robotics program. And that was in 2019, and it’s all gone very quiet since then.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14295752/china-russia-insect-drones-spy-uk-murder/

KING Charles yesterday took his initial steps on a “diplomatic tightrope” on his first trip to Canada since his crowning.

Charles — also the giant nation’s monarch — and Queen Camilla landed in Ottawa, where the couple were saluted by the military and given a Guard of Honour.

Their trip, on which Charles will be the first monarch to open the country’s Parliament since 1957, follows Donald Trump’s call for Canada to become the US’s 51st state.

Experts hailed the packed two-day trip as a “clever” move designed to signal to the US President that Britain stands by its Commonwealth ally.

Charles, 76, has praised the realm since its dispute with Mr Trump, 78, but has also invited the US leader for a second State visit.

Royal commentator Ingrid Seward said: “This is a diplomatic challenge for Charles. He takes his obligations as King of Canada and Head of the Commonwealth very seriously.

“He is walking a tightrope, but he has so far found the right words and actions to navigate it. I think he will stay away from saying anything inflammatory, but he will handle whatever is thrown at him.”

Charles and Camilla, who were also greeted by an indigenous tribe elder, were taken from the airport to meet locals at a party on the city’s Lansdowne Park.

Some made trips of up to eight hours to get there.

Charles dropped a puck to start a street hockey game as royal fans waved Canadian and Union flags and cheered “God save the King”.

The royals also participated in a tree planting at Government House.

Charles, still having cancer treatment, will give a speech today in English and French, Canada’s official languages, as he opens parliament.

Dr Dexter Govan, director of research for the Constitution Society, said it is “certainly no coincidence” that Charles is doing so.

He said: “The King must balance his role as Head of State of both the UK and Canada, while also refraining from commenting directly on politics.

“When President Trump suggests Canada should become the 51st state, that becomes even more challenging. By opening Parliament, the King’s continuing a long constitutional tradition where a monarch uses a symbolic gesture to make their point.”

“He takes his obligations as King of Canada and Head of the Commonwealth very seriously

Prof Damien Claude Bélanger, expert in Canadian-US relations, added: “The visit is designed to show that Canada has close, intimate ties, with one of the world’s great powers, and that we’re not alone in the face of the US or American power.”

Prof Robert Hazell, expert in Government and the Constitution at University College London, said: “Undoubtedly King Charles’s visit has political significance.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/royals/14328165/king-charles-visit-canada-camilla-trump/

THE FBI has launched a fresh investigation into the mysterious discovery of cocaine in President Joe Biden’s White House that saw the entire building evacuated.

The Secret Service stumbled upon the dime-sized bag inside a cubby near an entrance to the West Wing on July 2, 2023, but a suspect still hasn’t been found.

On Monday, Dan Bongino, the FBI’s deputy director, announced several probes that he says showed signs of “potential public corruption.”

“We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention to these cases,” he wrote on X.

“These cases are the DC pipe bombing investigation, the cocaine discovery at the prior administration’s White House, and the leak of the Supreme Court Dobbs case.”

Bongino explained that he would receive weekly briefings regarding the FBI’s progress in investigating these cases and asked people close to the matter to send tips.

Mystery still hangs in the air after the cocaine was found near the entrance that’s commonly used for tours.

Just 10 days after the discovery, the Secret Service closed its investigation and blamed a lack of evidence in the surveillance footage they reviewed.

“Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered,” the agency said at the time.

Many lawmakers felt the case could be cracked wide open if investigators found who had access to the cubby and called for a fresh look.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump suggested that someone in the Biden family was responsible for the drugs.

He questioned the lack of fingerprints on the lockers and guessed that there were normally “hundreds and even thousands” of prints.

“And when they went to look at it, it was absolutely stone cold, wiped dry,” Trump told The Spectator in February.

After stepping back into the White House, Trump said he was convinced that “either Joe or Hunter” was behind the massive flub.

Hunter was addicted to crack for years, and many of his drug-fueled antics were caught on videos leaked from his laptop.

The former first son said that he is now completely sober.

FURIOUS Iran would face a devastating invasion if it followed through on threats to assassinate Donald Trump, a former US advisor has warned.

Dr Kenneth Katzman, a retired Middle East analyst for the US Congressional Research Service, even warned of a “full-scale invasion” with special forces storming the streets of Tehran.

He spoke after Trump’s former security advisor, John Bolton, said the US President is “at the top” of an “assassination list” from the Middle East nation.

Bolton, who claimed he is also on the hit list, said it would be revenge for a US airstrike in 2020 in Iraq that killed military leader Qasem Soleimani, ordered by Trump.

But Dr Katzman warns Iran would face a response so dramatic it would overthrow its regime.

Analysts have previously warned such a conflict would be a devastating quagmire.

US historian Max Boot predicted would take up to 1.6million troops for the US to fully invade and occupy Iran.

The US forces would face a war that spill across the Middle East as they tried to battle Iran’s wide-ranging proxy forces.

Other forecasts have predicted smaller attacks – such as the long mulled joint-strike with Israel on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Dr Katzman told The Sun: “If Trump were to be assassinated, there would be many targets in Tehran that would be attacked.

“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Guard Corps (IRGC) headquarters is in Tehran, the besieged headquarters, all the security forces I’m sure would be attacked.

“If they assassinated the US president you could even see, conceivably, US ground operations in Iran if that happens.

“It would be just so dramatic. You could even see US special forces operations in Iran and infantry operations in Iran, the marketplace is wide open.

“The objective of troops in Iran? To take the regime out.

He added: “If they assassinated a US president, a full-scale invasion is very much an option.”

In November last year the Justice Department said it charged a man, Farhad Shakeri, 51, for his alleged role in a plot to assassinate Trump, tasked by the Iranian regime.

Iran, where the suspect is now believed to be, denies this.

Dr Katzman also warned that Bolton’s comments may have been a cry for help over an “active plot”

He continued: “I think he’s trying to highlight that he feels threatened. Trump withdrew the security protection for some of these guys that served in the first term that I mentioned, including Bolton.

“So I think Bolton, by bringing this up again, is trying to signal that he feels he needs security, there is still a threat, still an active plot.”

“Iran knows full well that that’s the kind of thing that could bring a massive US intervention, on enough scale that the regime is gone.”

But Dr Katzman believes the extent of the retaliation will deter Iran from following through with any threats.

Instead, he believes the threats serve as leverage to intimidate the US.

He added: “What’s always puzzled me and other experts like me: what is Iran hoping to achieve here? Because the retaliation presumably would be so dramatic.

“No one could quite figure out what the percentage is for Iran in actually going ahead with these types of operations.

“The retaliation is sure to be dramatic, but I think the sense is that Iran feels that these operations do give it a certain leverage and ability to intimidate, an ability to exert leverage.

“That’s the way Iran sees it. I don’t think anybody here necessarily sees it that way, but that’s how Iran sees it.

“There have been no policy changes by the threat of Iranian assassination attempts in the United States.

“These threats have not caused any change in policy more favorable to the regime, so it’s a mystery what Iran is really thinking with these plots.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14295764/iran-us-invasion-donald-trump-assassination-list/

US-backed group begins aid distribution in Gaza

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a group that is backed by Israel and the Trump administration, said Monday that it has started distributing food in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the GHF said it had “commenced operations in Gaza today, delivering truckloads of food to its Secure Distribution Sites, where distribution to the Gazan people began.”

More trucks with aid will be delivered on Tuesday, the group said, adding that the flow of aid would increase “each day.”

The Geneva-based organization, which was established in February, has pledged to distribute 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operating.

But the United Nations and international aid agencies have refused to work with the GHF amid allegations that the group is collaborating with Israel without any Palestinian involvement.

The UN has said the plan allows Israel to use food as a weapon, as it will force civilians to walk miles through Israeli military lines to find food.

Israel has faced rising global condemnation because of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where it has waged a military campaign in response to an attack in October 2023 by Hamas.

After a ceasefire collapsed in March, Israel imposed a two-month blockade on the Palestinian enclave, sparking fears of a famine in Gaza.

The GHF, meanwhile, has accused Hamas of trying to block its operations, condemning the Islamist group for making “death threats targeting aid groups.”

“It is clear that Hamas is threatened by this new operating model, and will do everything in its power to see it fail,” it said.

The group has also faced internal turmoil after its executive director Jake Wood resigned Sunday saying the new aid program would not allow him to do his job independently.

“It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon,” he said in a statement.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/merz-says-israeli-actions-in-gaza-no-longer-justified/live-72666924

PARANORMAL fanatics have spoken out after baseless rumors surrounding the disappearance of the supposedly haunted doll Annabelle went viral.

Social media has been rife with conspiracy theories claiming the red-headed toy had vanished or been stolen.

The doll burst onto the big screen via The Conjuring Universe horror franchise, but its real-life story dates back to the 1970s.

Baseless rumors have been swirling on TikTok that the real-life version of Annabelle escaped from its box, or went missing in Texas and Chicago.

Tourists in Louisiana claimed the doll went missing after it failed to show up at an exhibition as part of the Devils on The Run Tour, as reported by the Fox affiliate WFLD-TV.

The speculation has even prompted the New England Society for Psychic Research to speak about the doll’s whereabouts.

A TikTok video revealed Annabelle is still housed in the Warren’s Occult Museum in Connecticut.

The video showed the doll sitting in a case.

“Annabelle’s not missing. She’s not in Chicago,” the man in the video, known only as Dan, said.

Those who approach Annabelle’s glass box are instructed not to touch it based on a note.

The doll has been blamed for a blaze that gutted the Louisiana mansion, the Nottoway Plantation.

And, it has been bizarrely linked to a jailbreak that saw 10 inmates escape a New Orleans lockup.

The Raggedy Ann doll was given to student nurse Donna in 1970 as a present from her mom.

She claimed the doll inexplicably moved to different locations within her and her roommate’s homes.

Donna recalled on one instance she put the doll on the couch before leaving work only to discover that it was on the bed.

The doll apparently left notes and even turned violent against one of the student’s friends.

One of the notes said: “Help us,” while another reportedly said: “Help Lou,” according to the New England Society for Psychic Research.

Lou was a friend of the nurse and her mom.

The male friend claimed he woke up to a feeling of being strangled and had scratches on his body.

Meanwhile, the doll just stared at him as he was being allegedly attacked.

CHILLING BACKSTORY

The nurse and her mom called a medium, who revealed the story about a girl named Annabelle Higgins who was found dead at the age of seven.

The nurse called paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and they probed the claims whether Annabelle was indeed haunted.

Legend has it that Annabelle was responsible for a man who died after visiting the museum.

The man apparently banged on the doll’s case – despite being warned not to touch it.

He then smashed into a tree while riding back from the museum with his girlfriend.

Rumors about the doll mysteriously escaping the Warren’s Occult museum circulated in 2020.

Tony Spera, the Warrens’ son in law, debunked the rumors.

“I don’t know if you’re going to want to hear this or not, but Annabelle did not escape,” he emphatically said in a YouTube video.

“Annabelle’s here in all her infamous glory. She never left the museum.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14323071/annabelle-doll-haunted-missing-conspiracy-theories/

Saudi Arabia, an ultra-conservative country, is planning to legalise alcohol at 600 tourist spots ahead of hosting the 2034 World Cup. It will allow the sale of wine, beer, and cider at licensed locations, such as five-star hotels. Saudi Arabia believes that allowing alcohol at certain tourist sites will help the country compete with the UAE and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia, once an ultra-conservative country, is planning to legalise alcohol use at 600 tourist spots ahead of hosting the 2034 World Cup football, according to reports. The country has already taken a liberal turn under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and allowed women to drive, reopened cinemas and hosted music concerts. But allowing alcohol, beer, wine and cider by a Muslim country would be quite a radical step.

Saudi Arabia will allow the sale of wine, beer, and cider at licensed locations, including five-star hotels, luxury resorts, and expat-friendly compounds at 600 tourist sites, according to a report in The US Sun.

Saudi authorities believe allowing alcohol at certain tourist sites would help the country compete with the UAE and Bahrain, where alcohol is allowed at some tourist hotspots.

Drinks and liquor with more than 20% alcohol content will remain banned, according to a report by the UK-based Metro, which quoted local Saudi media.

Though Saudi Arabia is allowing soft alcohol with an eye on tourism, the general ban on booze in public, homes, and shops will remain, according to The Sun report.

SAUDI TO END 73-YEAR-OLD ALCOHOL BAN?

The move to allow beer and wine ahead of the 2034 World Cup will in effect bring to an end Saudi Arabia’s 73-year ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, said The UK’s Metro.

Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 under Abdulaziz Al Saud with a legal system based on Wahhabi Islam, a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam.

It followed Sharia law and alcohol was always forbidden, but the actual state-level enforcement and legal ban on alcohol sales and consumption was formalised in 1952.

FIRST ALCOHOL STORE OPENED IN RIYADH IN 2024

The store is in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter. It caters exclusively to non-Muslim diplomats and currently stocks liquor, wine, and a limited selection of just two types of beer, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Access is restricted to customers with valid diplomatic identification.

Upon entry, mobile phones must be sealed in pouches. Purchases are managed through a mobile app that operates on an allotment system, according to a diplomat familiar with the process.

Alcohol had been available only through diplomatic mail or on the black market.

MBS GIVING LIBERAL TURN TO SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), is writing a story of transformation, giving up its traditional image and ushering in a new era of openness and modernity. One of the reasons is to diversify its oil money-based economy to tourism.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/saudi-arabia-lifts-alcohol-ban-major-rules-ahead-world-cup-2034-wine-beer-cider-2026-heres-what-happened-2730627-2025-05-26

AT least 10 people have been taken to hospital after a Memorial Day Weekend celebration turned to chaos.

The Atlantic Beach Bike Festival in South Carolina was shut down by cops after panicked concert-goers caused a stampede on Saturday night.

It is believed that an argument sparked the sudden reaction with shoes and personal belongings left scattered on the floor as people fled.

Police have said they are investigating a “mass casualty event” with further updates expected later on.

Atlantic Beach Interim Police Chief Carlos Castillo told ABC affiliate WPDE that he would answer questions at some point but there would be no immediate comment.

It is claimed by a witness that an argument on the street caused festival goers to surge towards the stage, per Myrtle Beach Online.

Hilton Dewitt told the outlet that the incident occured around 1 am on Sunday.

“They started panicking. It was a stampede,” Dewitt said.

The scene was quickly attended by cops and ambulances who rushed to help the injured.

At least 10 injured people were taken to hospital, according to reports.

The severity of their injuries has not yet been shared and there is no confirmation about what exactly took place.

It is not known if the annual Memorial Day weekend event will continue following the incident.

Those at the scene have reported watching vendors packing up on Sunday morning.

Road closures and diversions have been enforced with emergency services reportedly still at the scene.

This year is the 45th anniversary of the Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, also known as Black Bike Week which is traditionally celebrated on Memorial Day weekend.

Bikers flood the streets and celebrate with food, live music, and parties.

Over 400,000 people were expected to attend the event this weekend.

Ahead of his first Atlantic Beach Bike Week, Nick Beard from Virginia, shared his excitement for the event with WPDE.

“It’s about the people and the connections you make with the people, and everyone enjoying themselves and smiling,” he said.

“The world is hard enough as it is. come out here for a couple of days or a week in my case, and see everyone smiling, it’s a greatest thing.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14319906/stampede-atlantic-beach-black-bike-week-myrtle-beach/

Easier trade among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as with the regional bloc’s top economic partner, China, is on the horizon as the grouping pushes ahead with “bolder” moves to stave off the threat of steep US tariffs.

ASEAN has concluded negotiations on upgrading the ASEAN Trade In Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), with the enhanced deals set to be signed in October, Malaysia’s Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz told reporters on Sunday (May 25) ahead of the 46th ASEAN summit.

“We remain confident that these milestones will serve as a pivotal enabler for ASEAN’s sustained growth and competitiveness,” Tengku Zafrul said after chairing an ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting.

“The successful conclusion of these negotiations is expected to enhance the region’s economic integration and generate significant economic benefits for ASEAN as we continue to navigate an increasingly volatile global economic landscape.”

As the rotating chair for ASEAN this year, Malaysia has urged the bloc to diversify its trading partners in the face of sweeping tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

Speaking on Sunday, Tengku Zafrul warned the bloc against staying still at a time of economic uncertainty.

“ASEAN would need to break away from a business-as-usual approach,” he said.

“We need to adopt bolder, more agile and more forward-looking strategies. We need to safeguard and advance ASEAN socioeconomic interests.”

ASEAN has reaffirmed its commitment to stand by the principles of multilateralism and a rules-based global trading order, even as it continues to maintain a policy of non-retaliation against the US tariffs, Tengku Zafrul said.

“We don’t plan to have any measures that will represent a retaliation to what has been introduced,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul said every ASEAN member is a “sovereign nation” and should be supported in pursuing bilateral tariff negotiations with the US.

“But it’s important that in all these meetings, we also reiterate the ASEAN position,” he added.

At the summit on Monday and Tuesday, ASEAN is expected to explore the expansion of regional free trade agreements alongside engaging other economic blocs and dialogue partners, measures which Tengku Zafrul said were discussed at the economic council meeting.

FACILITATING TRADE WITHIN ASEAN

“We also discussed how ASEAN can improve trade within,” the minister added, noting that intra-ASEAN trade accounts for approximately 23 per cent of the bloc’s total trade.

“There’s a lot of room for improvement. When we look at other economic blocs, they trade with each other internally more than what ASEAN is doing today.”

ATIGA is aimed at achieving a free flow of goods between ASEAN member states, resulting in lower business costs, increased trade, and a larger market and economies of scale for businesses.

The upgraded agreement targets the further lowering of tariffs and the removal of non-tariff barriers among member countries.

It will feature “forward-looking and commercially meaningful provisions aimed at further boosting regional trade, enhancing supply chain resilience, and also boosting deeper economic integration within ASEAN”, Tengku Zafrul said.

Singapore, which chaired the upgrade negotiations, said it will continue to work with ASEAN and global partners to secure the bloc’s long-term growth, competitiveness, and shared prosperity.

The successful conclusion of the upgrade negotiations “demonstrates ASEAN’s commitment to building a more seamless and resilient economic region, as well as to preserve a rules-based trading environment to better support businesses’ operations in the ASEAN region amidst an uncertain global economic climate”, Singapore Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, also the country’s deputy prime minister, said in a statement on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan highlighted that ASEAN nations are among those most heavily hit by US tariffs.

“We must seize this moment to deepen regional economic integration, so that we can better shield our region from external shocks,” he said in opening remarks at a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers.

The US-China trade war is “dramatically disrupting” production and trade patterns worldwide, Mohamad said, cautioning that a global economic slowdown was likely to happen.

TAKING ASEAN-CHINA TRADE FORWARD

ASEAN is China’s largest trading partner, with the value of total trade reaching US$234 billion in the first quarter of 2025, according to Chinese customs data.

The so-called 3.0 version of CAFTA will “promote the deep integration of the production and supply chains of both sides”, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, when it announced the completion of negotiations.

The upgraded pact will also “inject greater certainty into regional and global trade and play a leading and exemplary role for countries to adhere to openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation”, the ministry said.

China has intensified engagement with ASEAN since Trump announced hefty import tariffs on countries around the world and targeted China with even heavier levies. Some of the levies have since been delayed while China and the US agreed this month to pause some of their tariffs.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/asean-summit-us-tariffs-china-trade-5152036

The alleged rift between Megan Markle and former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful goes deeper than him reportedly being unable to accommodate her for a cover in 2022, we hear.

The former royal gave the fashion maven an impossible list of demands, and even tried to also appeal to US Vogue’s Anna Wintour, a source tells Page Six.

The Daily Mail reported this week that Markle and Enniful had plans for a UK Vogue September 2022 issue that would include Markle’s keynote appearance at the One Young World Summit in Manchester, and “involved extensive features across the magazine and its digital editions.”

The outlet reported that Markle wanted the cover, but Enniful already had a star, Linda Evangelista, booked — causing Markle to pull the plug and causing a falling out between the former friends.

But we hear scheduling wasn’t the only reason the cover never materialized.

A source tells us Markle wanted a “global cover,” appearing on the covers of UK and US Vogue simultaneously, along with a list of demands.

“Meghan asked for control over [the] photographer, writer, final edit, photos, cover lines, and wanted a global issue,” says a source.

We hear there was no way any editor would agree.

“Nobody gets that. Not even Beyoncé,” says the source.

We hear Markle even set up a personal Zoom call with Wintour in order to try and pitch her on the idea.

“Anna wasn’t interested,” says the source, adding the mag already had its own cover star, Serena Williams.

While Markle was not in the running, the source tells us: “Meghan asked for a Zoom with her to reconsider, and Anna did it to be polite.”

Adele is the only celebrity to appear on both US and UK covers simultaneously for the November 2021 issues.

However, another source insisted that Markle never sought a cover from Vogue, and that the mag had actually approached her multiple times after her wedding to Prince Harry.

Enninful had previously asked Markle to be on the cover of British Vogue’s 2019 “Forces for Change” issue, but she chose to guest edit instead, the source said.

Markle did wind up getting a September 2022 cover, at the time she was promoting her now failed “Archetypes” podcast.

She appeared on the digital cover of New York magazine’s the Cut, which also featured another digital cover with Megan Thee Stallion.

She was also slated to appear on the cover of Variety that month, but it was held a month after Queen Elizabeth II passed away.

Sources told Daily Mail that Markle and Enninful — who quit British Vogue in February — are no longer on speaking terms.

“The duchess and her team had high expectations and were expecting she might get a print cover or at least a digital cover out of it, but Enninful was not able to meet those expectations. He already had a magazine cover in the bag for that month,” an insider said.

“Edward was furious to have lost the project, as were the powers that be at Condé Nast,” said the source.
“The whole process became very difficult. Edward could only promise her a big showy feature inside the magazine and online — but she turned it down,” they added.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/24/royal-family/meghan-markle-made-impossible-demands-for-2022-vogue-cover/

Sean “Diddy” Combs won’t be popping Cîroc bottles this Memorial Day.

The “Act Bad” rapper, who is currently behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY, will be celebrating the holiday Monday differently than he’s used to.

The disgraced hip-hop mogul will spend Memorial Day engaging in friendly competition with his fellow inmates, playing 3-on-3 basketball, dominoes, spades and board games, according to TMZ.

The outlet reported that Combs, 55, will have plenty of food items to choose from throughout the day, starting with fruit and cereal for breakfast.

For lunch, the dad of seven will dine on BBQ chicken, macaroni and cheese, mixed veggies and a holiday dessert, while dinner will consist of chicken and rice, pinto beans, canned corn and whole wheat bread.

Page Six has reached out to Combs’ rep for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Combs is currently on trial, facing three charges: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.

The “I’ll Be Missing You” emcee has pleaded not guilty and denied all culpability.

Several witnesses have testified about Combs’ alleged physical abuse against his ex Casanda “Cassie” Ventura, including Dawn Richard.

The former Danity Kane singer, 41, claimed she saw the Revolt co-founder get “violent or volatile” toward the “Me & U” songstress.

“He would drag her and kick her and punch her in the mouth,” she told the jury last Monday, alleging that Ventura, 38, would be attacked when she “would speak up for herself.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/25/celebrity-news/how-sean-diddy-combs-will-spend-his-first-memorial-day-behind-bars/

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed deep unhappiness at Russia’s weekend bombing of Ukraine, saying of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “I’m not happy with Putin.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? He’s killing a lot of people. I’m not happy about that,” Trump told reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey, as he prepared to return to Washington.

Trump spoke in reaction to a Russian barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight on Sunday, including the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more.

Trump has been trying to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire in the three-year-old war in Ukraine and he spoke for more than two hours with Putin last week.

He raised the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing attacks.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-he-is-not-happy-with-putin-bombing-ukraine-2025-05-25/

There is no excitement as the camera passes. The children barely glance. What can surprise a child who lives among the dead, the dying, the waiting to die? Hunger has worn them down.

They wait in queues for scant rations or for none at all. They have grown used to my colleague and his camera, filming for the BBC. He witnesses their hunger, their dying, and to the gentle wrapping of their bodies – or fragments of their bodies – in white shrouds upon which their names, if known, are written.

For 19 months of war, and now under a renewed Israeli offensive, this local cameraman – who I do not name, for his safety - has listened to the anguished cries of the survivors in hospital courtyards.

His physical distance is respectful, but they are on his mind, day and night. He is one of them, trapped in the same claustrophobic hell.

This morning he is setting out to find Siwar Ashour, a five-month-old girl whose emaciated frame and exhausted cry at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis affected him so much, when he was filming there earlier this month, that he wrote to tell me something had broken inside him.

She weighed just over 2kg (4lb 6oz). A baby girl of five months should be about 6kg or over.

Siwar has since been discharged and is now at home,  my colleague has heard. That is what brings him to the street of pulverised houses and makeshift shelters of canvas and corrugated iron.

He conducts his search in difficult circumstances. A few days ago I messaged to ask how he was doing. “I am not okay,” he replied. “Just a short while ago, the Israeli army announced the evacuation of most areas of Khan Younis… We don’t know what to do – there is no safe place to go.

“Al-Mawasi is extremely overcrowded with displaced people. We are lost and have no idea what the right decision is at this moment.”

He finds a one-bedroom shack, the entrance formed of a floral patterned, grey and black curtain. Inside there are three mattresses, part of a chest of drawers, and a mirror which reflects sunlight across the floor in front of Siwar, her mother Najwa and her grandmother, Reem.

Siwar is quiet, held secure by the protective presence of the two women. The baby cannot absorb regular milk formula because of a severe allergic reaction. Under the conditions of war and an Israeli blockade on aid arrivals, there is a severe shortage of the formula she needs.

Najwa, 23, explains that her condition stabilised when she was in Nasser hospital, so doctors discharged her with a can of baby formula several days ago.

Now at home, she says the baby’s weight has started to slip again. “The doctors told me that Siwar improved and is better than before, but I think that she is still skinny and hasn’t improved much. They found her only one can of milk, and it [has] started running out.”

Flies dance in front of Siwar’s face. “The situation is very dire,” says Najwa, “the insects come at her, I have to cover her with a scarf so nothing touches her”.

Siwar has lived with the sound of war since last November when she was born. The artillery, the rockets, falling bombs – distant and near. The gunfire, the blades of Israeli drones whirring overhead. Najwa explains: “She understands these things. The sound of the tanks, warplanes, and rockets are so loud and they are close to us. When Siwar hears these sounds, she gets startled and cries. If she is sleeping, she wakes up startled and crying.”

Doctors in Gaza say many young mothers report being unable to breastfeed their babies due to lack of nutrition. The pressing problem is food and clean water.

Najwa was malnourished herself when Siwar was born. She and her mother Reem still find it difficult to get anything to eat themselves. It is the struggle of every waking hour. “In our case, we can’t provide milk or diapers because of the prices and the border closure.”

On 22 May Israeli military body Cogat said there was no food shortage in Gaza. It said “significant quantities of baby food and flour for bakeries” had been brought into the enclave in recent days.

The agency has repeatedly insisted that Hamas steals aid, while the Israeli government says the war will continue until Hamas is destroyed and the Israeli hostages held in Gaza are released. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 20 hostages seized by Hamas in the 7 October 2023 attacks are believed to be alive and up to 30 others dead.

Aid agencies, the United Nations and many foreign governments, including Britain, reject Cogat’s comment that there is no food shortage. US President Donald Trump has also spoken of people “starving” in Gaza.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described the amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza as “a teaspoon”. He said Palestinians were “enduring what may be the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict” with restricted supplies of fuel, shelter, cooking gas and water purification supplies.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y2kd1nkleo

Joseph Neumeyer, 28, was detained in Israel after the attack and deported to the United States, where he was arrested on arrival, court documents and a Justice Department statement said.

A dual US-German citizen was charged in a New York court Sunday on suspicion he tried to firebomb the United States’ mission in Tel Aviv earlier this week, the US Justice Department said.

Joseph Neumeyer, 28, was detained in Israel after the attack and deported to the United States, where he was arrested on arrival, court documents and a Justice Department statement said.

He was also accused of issuing assassination threats against US President Donald Trump.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said her department would “prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.”

If convicted, Neumeyer faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, with a maximum fine of $250,000, the Justice Department said.

Neumeyer had traveled to Israel last month, according to statements from the Justice Department and the US attorney’s office in New York.

On May 19, he had posted on his Facebook account an invitation to “join me as I burn down the embassy,” the statements said.

“Death to America, death to Americans, and f—k the west,” he wrote, before going to the US diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv — a branch of the US embassy, which was moved to Jerusalem in 2018.

There, Neumeyer spit on a guard as he walked past the mission, and when the guard attempted to detain him, he broke free and ran off, leaving behind his backpack, the statement from the US attorney’s office said.

“Law enforcement recovered from Neumeyer’s backpack several bottles that had been turned into improvised incendiary devices, commonly known as ‘Molotov cocktails’,” it said.

Law enforcement, which confirmed the presence of flammable fluid in the devices, later tracked Neumeyer to his hotel and arrested him.

After being deported to New York on Saturday, he appeared at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn Sunday afternoon, where he was ordered detained pending trial.

US authorities highlighted threatening posts alleged to have been posted by Neumeyer on social media.

“This defendant is charged with planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel, threatening death to Americans, and President Trump’s life,” US Attorney General Bondi said.

“This despicable and violent behavior will not be tolerated at home or abroad,” said FBI director Kash Patel.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-german-man-arrested-for-attempted-firebombing-at-us-embassy-in-tel-aviv-8507614

Two Texas residents have been arrested for allegedly operating a criminal racket that exploited the US immigration system through fraudulent visa applications, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced this on Friday.

Abdul Hadi Murshid, 39, and Muhammad Salman Nasir, 35, both originally from Pakistan, were taken into custody following a joint investigation led by FBI Dallas and federal law enforcement partners.

The duo now faces multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering conspiracy and Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) conspiracy.

The charges were announced by Acting US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Chad E Meacham. Murshid and Nasir are also accused of unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain US citizenship.

According to the indictment, the accused, along with the Law Offices of D Robert Jones PLLC and Reliable Ventures, Inc., allegedly orchestrated a large-scale visa fraud scheme for financial gain.

Investigators claim they submitted false and fraudulent applications on behalf of non-citizens – referred to in the indictment as “visa seekers” – to help them enter and remain in the US illegally.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/pakistani-nationals-arrested-visa-fraud-money-laundering-case-texas-2730242-2025-05-25

In an interview with British tabloid The Sun following her return to the UK, Magee expressed disappointment with the pageant’s environment, stating that it did not align with her expectations of ‘beauty with a purpose’.

Controversies continue to plague the international Miss World pageant, which the Telangana government has been hosting with great fanfare to promote the state globally. Following an earlier uproar over local women washing the feet of beauty pageant contestants during their visit to the iconic Ramappa Temple, another controversy has cast a shadow over the competition as one contestant has withdrawn from the event.

Miss England 2024 Milla Magee has withdrawn from the ongoing Miss World 2025 pageant being hosted in Telangana, citing personal and ethical concerns for her decision. The 24-year-old, who arrived in Hyderabad on May 7, returned to the UK on May 16, ending her participation in the global beauty competition.

In an interview with British tabloid The Sun following her return to the UK, Magee expressed disappointment with the pageant’s environment, stating that it did not align with her expectations of “beauty with a purpose.” However, Miss World organisers have refuted her claims. Following her exit from the competition, Miss England runner-up Charlotte Grant has stepped in to replace her.

According to The Sun, Milla Magee reportedly “fled the competition,” citing “superficial treatment and lack of respect toward contestants.” She claimed to have quit the Miss World beauty pageant because she felt organisers were exploiting her.

“I went there to make a difference, but we had to sit like performing monkeys. It’s stuck in the past. Morally, I couldn’t be a part of it,” Magee told The Sun.

The publication also reported that Magee said she “felt like a prostitute” and was “farmed out for entertainment” by Miss World organisers. She said she decided to take a stand after being paraded in front of wealthy male sponsors.

“Contenders were told to wear make-up 24/7 and ball gowns all day, including at breakfast,” she said in the interview.

According to The Sun, Magee said the final straw came when contestants were told to entertain middle-aged men as a “thank you” for their financial support of the show.

“There were two girls assigned to each table of six guests. We were expected to sit with them for the whole evening and entertain them as a thank you. I found that unbelievable. I remember thinking, ‘This is so wrong.’ I didn’t come here to be farmed out for people’s entertainment. Miss World is supposed to have the same values, but it’s outdated and stuck in the past. They made me feel like a prostitute,” The Sun quoted Magee as saying.

“I went out to make a difference, to help create a different future, perhaps inspire young people. Never in a million years did I expect to find myself in that situation. We were there to please these people and sit like performing monkeys. I couldn’t stand it.”

She also claimed that one official reprimanded contestants for being “boring” after an event.

Responding to Magee’s allegations, Miss World Organisation CEO and Chairperson Julia Morley CBE’s office stated that earlier this month, Milla Magee had requested to leave the competition due to a reported family emergency involving her mother’s health. As a mother and grandmother herself, Julia Morley CBE, Chairwoman of Miss World, said she responded to Magee’s situation with compassion and immediately arranged her return to England, prioritising the well-being of the contestant and her family.

Following Magee’s departure, Charlotte Grant, the first runner-up of Miss England, stepped in to represent her country. Charlotte arrived in India on Wednesday and has since been welcomed into what the organisation calls “the Miss World sisterhood.”

“Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that certain UK media outlets have published false and defamatory statements, allegedly made by Milla Magee, regarding her experience in India. These claims are completely unfounded and inconsistent with the reality of her time with us. In response, the Miss World Organisation is releasing unedited videos recorded during Milla’s stay in India, in which she expresses gratitude, joy, and appreciation for the experience. These videos reflect her own words and sentiments and serve as a direct contradiction to the recent false narratives,” the organisation stated.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/india/telangana/made-me-feel-like-a-prostitute-miss-world-milla-magee-contestant-quits-citing-ethical-concerns-3555980

North Korea has detained three people over an accident that occurred during the launch of a new warship this past week, state media reported early Sunday (May 25).

The failed launch that crippled the 5,000-tonne warship was witnessed by leader Kim Jong Un who said the accident damaged the country’s dignity and vowed to punish those found responsible, calling it a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness”.

The mishap likely occurred in front of a large crowd at the northeastern port of Chongjin, increasing the public humiliation for Kim who tried to show off military might, experts say.

Those detained are Kang Jong Chol, the chief engineer at the Chongjin shipyard; Han Kyong Hak, head of the hull construction workshop; and Kim Yong Hak, deputy manager for administrative affairs, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The KCNA report said the three were “responsible for the accident”.

Satellite imagery shows the warship, covered in blue tarps, lying on its side, with the stern swung out into the harbour, but the bow remaining on the side slipway, according to the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

South Korea’s military said US and Seoul intelligence authorities assessed that North Korea’s “side-launch attempt” of the ship failed, and the vessel was left listing in the water.

KCNA, however, reported that an “underwater and internal inspection of the warship confirmed that, unlike the initial announcement, there were no holes made at the warship’s bottom”, calling the extent of the damage “not serious”.

Kim has ordered the ship restored before a ruling party meeting in June. KCNA said the rehabilitation plan was pushing ahead.

Based on its size and scale, the South Korean military said the newly built warship is believed to be similarly equipped to the 5,000-ton destroyer-class vessel Choe Hyon, which North Korea unveiled last month.

Pyongyang has said the Choe Hyon is equipped with the “most powerful weapons”, and that it would “enter into operation early next year”.

Seoul’s military has said the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help – possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/north-korea-warship-accident-3-officials-detained-kim-jong-un-5151661

Russian strikes killed three people in the Kyiv region overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday (May 25), as the two countries fired drones towards each other’s capitals.

AFP journalists heard explosions in the Ukrainian capital, with the head of the city’s military administration warning “the night will not be easy”.

Russian authorities meanwhile reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been downed.

The latest fire comes as the two sides pursue a major prisoner swap more than three years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In Kyiv region “three people died last night as a result of an enemy attack”, said Mykola Kalashnyk, who heads the regional military administration.

The city’s mayor earlier said Russia’s attack wounded at least 10 people, while he warned residents to stay in shelters.

The capital was “under attack” but “air defences are operating”, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Tymur Tkachenko, Kyiv city’s military administration chief, reported “more than a dozen enemy drones” were in airspace around the capital.

“Some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital,” he wrote on Telegram.

Debris fell on a five-storey residential building, he added.

Overnight attacks were also reported in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

In Moscow, restrictions were imposed on at least four airports, including the main hub Sheremetyevo, the Russian civilian aviation authority said.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 drones flying towards the Russian capital had been intercepted.

“CRAZY FEELINGS”

The renewed attacks follow Ukraine’s air force on Saturday morning saying Russia had launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight.

Officials said 15 people were wounded in those strikes.

The Russian military said Saturday that Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday.

Dozens of drones targeting Moscow have been shot down over the past week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s attacks indicated Moscow was “prolonging the war” and repeated his call for ramped-up sanctions.

But he also said he expected officials to press on with a prisoner swap agreed during talks last week in Istanbul.

On Saturday, 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow.

Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total.

Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the exchange, without saying what those terms would be.

The two enemies have held regular prisoner swaps, but none has been on this scale.

An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds waiting outside.

After they stepped off the bus, tearful relatives rushed to embrace the soldiers while others held pictures of their loved ones, hoping to find out if they had been seen in captivity.

Many of the soldiers were draped in bright yellow and blue Ukrainian flags.

“It’s simply crazy. Crazy feelings,” 31-year-old Konstantin Steblev, a soldier, told AFP after he was released following three years in captivity.

DIPLOMATIC PUSH

US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap.

“This could lead to something big???” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.

One of the soldiers formerly held captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP it was hard to put words to his emotional homecoming.

Captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he had been held for 37 months and 12 days.

“I didn’t expect such a welcome. It’s impossible to describe. I can’t put it into words. It’s very joyful,” he said.

After more than three years of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/ukraine-kyiv-drone-attack-warns-missile-threat-russia-5151751

The six people onboard a small plane that crashlanded in a California neighbourhood amid dense fog were all killed, according to investigating authorities.

The Cessna 550 Citation, which federal records show belonged to music agent Dave Shapiro, struck a power line before plummeting into a residential area of San Diego at 3.47am (6.47pm, Singapore time) on Thursday (May 22), according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

It was not immediately clear what caused the Cessna to come plunging into the Murphy Canyon neighborhood, about 3.2km from the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport where the aircraft was headed.

In an audio recording posted to air traffic website liveatc.net, the pilot can be heard asking about weather conditions prior to descent, while indicating that visibility was down to a minimum.

“Doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” the pilot said.

As the plane came down, it clipped a power line and the impact of the crash set several nearby houses and vehicles alight, jolting families awake before dawn.

“The pilot and passengers were fatally injured,” NTSB investigator Dan Baker told a press conference on Friday. He added that no one on the ground had been seriously hurt.

While Baker did not specify the number of fatalities, the US Federal Aviation Administration previously said the private plane had six people onboard.

The San Diego County medical examiner’s office named three of the victims as Shapiro, 42, Emma Huke, 25, and Celina Kenyon, 36.

Music veteran Shapiro was a co-founder of Sound Talent Group, which counts artists Hanson, Sum 41, Modern Baseball and Vanessa Carlton on its roster.

The company told US media that two other members of its staff, booking assistants Huke and Kendall Fortner, were also killed in the crash.

“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted,” Sound Talent Group said in a statement.

NBC7 identified the other victims as software engineer Dominic Damian and Daniel Williams, a former drummer for metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada.

“No words. We owe you everything. Love you forever,” the band wrote in a tribute to Williams on Instagram.

Kenyon was a professional photographer and mother, according to her social media. Her father, Bryan Charles Feldman, told NBC7 she had chosen to fly home early with friends after a photo shoot rather than take a commercial plane so she could take her daughter to school the next day.

At least 10 homes in San Diego’s Murphy Canyon neighborhood were hit by debris, while the street was littered with charred remnants, scattered fiberglass and jet fuel.

Eight people were treated for minor injuries, according to responding police and firefighters.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/australia-floods-new-south-wales-deaths-thousands-isolated-property-damage-5151816

Founded in 1636, Harvard University is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. It has produced many Nobel laureates and eight US presidents. However, the current US president, Donald Trump, has declared Harvard “a JOKE” — one he doesn’t find funny. According to Trump, the university teaches “hate and stupidity” and hires “woke, radical left, idiots.” This, he stated in a post on his own social media platform, Truth Social, in mid-April, was why Harvard “should no longer receive federal funds.”

Government agencies immediately froze $2.2 billion (approximately €2.2 billion) that had been earmarked for the university. Then, in May, a government antisemitism task force informed the university leadership that an additional $450 million of funding was also being cut.

On Thursday, May 22, the Trump administration escalated the conflict further. The US Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, issued a letter revoking the university’s license to enroll foreign students. Harvard was given a 72-hour deadline to provide the administration with specific information about foreign students if it wished to regain its license.

Harvard promptly sued the administration, and scored an initial legal victory the following day when US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs found in the university’s favor. She accepted its argument that the government order would cause Harvard “immediate and irreparable injury,” and temporarily blocked the order pending a further hearing.

What is the Trump administration’s justification for its actions?

As Trump himself and many of those close to him have repeatedly indicated, they are troubled that, in their eyes, Harvard’s teaching and research are dominated by left-wing content and ideologies. However, the US Constitution makes clear that the government can only restrict freedom of speech in a few, very specific instances. Last month, more than 100 US universities signed an open letter, citing the Constitution, and protesting “unprecedented government overreach and political interference.”

The legal pretext for the funding cuts is the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have taken place at many US universities as a reaction to Israel’s war against Hamas. The war is Israel’s response to the terrorist attack launched from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. There have been many reports that Jewish students have been targeted in antisemitic attacks during protests in the United States. The US, along with Germany, Israel and other countries, characterize Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Why does the US government have Harvard in its sights?

The new US government has withdrawn funding, or has threatened to do so, from around 60 universities. In March, for example, it pulled $400 million of federal funding from Columbia University in New York, accusing the university leadership of “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

Columbia sued the administration over the cancellation of funding, but it did comply with several other government demands, such as banning the wearing of masks during protests, hiring new security personnel and making changes to the management of the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies. In spite of this, the US Department of Health and Human Services nonetheless upheld the accusation of inaction.

Harvard, which is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a suburb just outside Boston, is so far the only university to openly resist the administration’s demands. Part of the reason why it can afford to challenge the government is that it has an endowment of more than $50 billion. This endowment may now be targeted by the government.

What would the new measures mean for Harvard?

If the administration is successful in blocking Harvard from enrolling international students, one consequence will be that many international students will lose their US residence permits, unless they are able to enroll at a different university.

This would not only deprive Harvard of international talent. There are around 6,800 non-US citizens enrolled at the university, which receives around $400 million per year from them in tuition fees. Fees are the same for US students — around $59,000 per year — but many are awarded scholarships that the university funds. Overall, Harvard therefore earns more from international students than from American ones.

The US government is also considering imposing heavy taxes on capital gains from university endowments. Endowment funds are invested primarily in securities, yielding hundreds of millions of dollars per year. During his first term in office, Trump introduced a capital gains tax of 1.4% for universities with endowments that exceed $500,000 per student. Now, he proposes to add further tiers, and for capital gains on endowments in the highest category — in excess of $2 million per student — to be taxed at 21%.

In the USA Today national newspaper, the economist Phillip Levine estimated that elite universities like Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, and, of course, Harvard, could each face tax bills of between $400 and $850 million a year under the new scheme.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/trump-vs-harvard-elite-university-with-no-international-students/a-72660190

A WOMAN who stabbed 18 people in a bloody rampage at Hamburg Central Station had been released from a psychiatric hospital just one day earlier, it’s been revealed.

The 39-year-old suspect, named by local media as Lydia S., launched her frenzied knife attack as commuters waited on platforms 13 and 14 during Friday evening’s rush hour.

She had a known history of mental illness and was considered a “danger to other people”, according to police sources cited by Bild.

A judge has since ordered her return to a clinic.

Dramatic footage on social media showed a woman dressed in a dark hoodie and black tracksuit bottoms, being dragged away by cops.

She was being led away from Hamburg Central Station in the aftermath of the shocking attack.

The short clip also showed a large entourage of police officers following the detained individual through the street while astonished bystanders looked on.

During the frenzy on Friday at 6:05pm local time, the woman suddenly pulled out a knife and began randomly stabbing passengers waiting for the ICE 855 train to Munich.

Police and federal officers rushed to the scene and were able to overpower and disarm the attacker before arresting her.

The brutal attack left four people critically injured, six seriously hurt, and eight others with minor wounds, according to emergency services.

The suspect is a German national known to police and has a history of mental illness, having previously spent time in a psychiatric facility, German newspaper Bild reported.

Hamburg police later confirmed in a post on X: “The person arrested is a 39-year-old woman.

“Based on the information so far, we assume that she acted alone.”

Police are continuing their investigation but say there is currently no evidence of a political motive behind the attack.

Hamburg’s fire department declared a major incident, deploying emergency doctors, paramedics, and a large-capacity ambulance to the scene.

Dramatic pictures showed several police officers and first responders securing the scene outside the station.

Some victims were treated aboard the train, while others were rushed to the hospital.

A Red Cross crisis response team was on site to support the victims’ families.

The ICE train on platform 14 was evacuated and rail services around Hamburg Central Station were partially suspended, according to local reports.

The station – located in the heart of Germany’s second-largest city – is a major hub for local, regional, and long-distance travel.

Friday’s rush hour and the start of school holidays meant it was especially crowded.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted with shock, speaking to Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher on Friday evening.

His spokesman said: “His thoughts were with the victims and their families.”

The Chancellor also thanked emergency responders and offered federal support.

Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” and extended sympathy to those injured.

It added that carrying weapons – including knives – is strictly banned on the station premises and on Hamburg’s public transport network.

It comes after two people were killed and two police officers wounded in a brutal knife attack in the Netherlands.

Emergency crews, including ambulances and trauma teams, raced to a property in Hoofddorp, near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, on Wednesday morning.

One police vehicle at the scene was left spattered with blood.

Both victims were inside the house after initial reports of a “fight”.

Police confirmed two officers were injured, but there was no immediate confirmation about the extent of their injuries.

Locals say the house, located on Fanny Blankers-Koenlaan, is known for drug and alcohol-related disturbances.

Local newspaper De Telegraaf also reported, citing multiple sources, that two people were killed in the stabbing spree.

Chilling images showed emergency vehicles lined up along the residential street in the aftermath of the deadly attack.

Meanwhile, police were urgently called to Majorca’s Palma Airport on Tuesday morning after reports of a man being stabbed in the neck in the arrivals area.

Detectives said the victim was a young Argentinian who suffered a wound a few centimetres from the artery which required several stitches.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14313701/hamburg-knifewoman-train-rampage/

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce had a low-key date night in Florida amid the singer’s rumored friendship fallout with Blake Lively.

The pair was spotted having dinner at Harry’s restaurant in West Palm Beach on Friday night.

MMA fighter Jose Andres Cortes shared a photo on his Instagram Story of the couple looking cozy while sitting side-by-side in a booth and enjoying some drinks before having their entrees.

Another snap posted by singer Mark Morrison caught the Grammy winner making an excited facial expression while seated at the table.

A source told TMZ that the lovebirds, both 35, entered the restaurant holding hands before Swift walked ahead of Kelce.

The “Cruel Summer” songstress wore a floral off-the-shoulder sundress for the romantic outing and styled her hair in a loose bun.

The NFL star, on the other hand, wore a printed black-and-white button-down shirt with tan pants.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end has been renting a $20 million mansion in Boca Raton, Fla., while training in the offseason.

The outing comes after it was reported that Swift is further distancing herself from her longtime pal Lively after being subpoenaed in the “Gossip Girl” alum’s ongoing legal feud with Justin Baldoni.

“Right now, if Taylor had one wish, it would be that she never met Blake,” an insider claimed to the Daily Mail Thursday.

“Although there have been good times during their relationship, the issues now concerning the Baldoni case have outweighed them.”

“When Taylor looks back at their friendship, she realizes it wasn’t worth all the stress Blake put her through. She can now see all the red flags that should have been a warning to her,” the source further alleged.

Kelce is said to be supporting his girlfriend in the drama — even unfollowing Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s husband, on Instagram.

Baldoni’s lawyers originally subpoenaed Swift on the belief that she played a role in Lively’s alleged attempts to take control of “It Ends With Us.”

In Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, the “Jane the Virgin” alum claimed the “Another Simple Favor” star name-dropped Swift to push her script rewrites.

Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman went on to allege in a written affidavit to the court that Lively’s lawyer threatened to release Swift’s private texts if she did not publicly support the actress. She also allegedly demanded that Swift delete their messages.

Baldoni and his legal team dropped Swift’s subpoena earlier this week after reportedly getting the information they wanted.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/24/celebrity-news/taylor-swift-and-travis-kelce-have-cozy-date-night-in-florida/

Andriy Portnov’s murder in a Madrid suburb has shocked Ukrainians, but it has not exactly triggered an outpouring of grief.

The controversial former official had just dropped his children off at the American School when he was shot several times in the car park.

The image of his lifeless body lying face down in a gym kit marked the end of a life synonymous with Ukrainian corruption and Russian influence.

Ukraine’s media have been discussing the 51-year-old’s frequent threats to journalists, as well as his huge influence under the country’s last pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych.

“A man who called for the killing of political opponents suddenly got what he wanted from others,” observed reporter Oleksandr Holubov. News website Ukrayinska Pravda even called him “the devil’s advocate”.

Rare words of restraint came from Portnov’s once political rival Serhiy Vlasenko, an MP, who said: “You can’t kill people. When discussing someone’s death, we must remain human.”

Portnov was controversial and widely disliked. The motives for his murder may seem evident, but his death has still left unanswered questions.

Sophie Turner shared a telling sign about the current status of her relationship with ex-husband Joe Jonas.

Turner proved the two are now on good terms as she showed her support for the singer’s new album, “Music For People Who Believe in Love,” following their messy divorce.

“Go go @joejonas,” the “Game of Thrones” alum posted on her Instagram Story Saturday with a link to the project.

Jonas’ new album is currently available for streaming after dropping Friday.

In a TalkShopLive stream on Wednesday, the “Camp Rock” star — who called it quits with Turner in September 2023 — revealed how his divorce specifically inspired the song “Only Love.”

“I was seeing somebody at the time and I was kind of having this idea of dating again. It was really scary and intimidating,” he said.

“Love takes different shapes and forms and I was rediscovering what that was.”

The Jonas Brothers member said the unnamed person he was dating at the time quickly dismissed his fears by telling him, “Well, it’s only love.”

Jonas, 35, and Turner, 29, finalized their divorce in September 2024 after a contentious custody battle over their two daughters, Willa, 4, and Delphine, 2.

The actress previously filed a lawsuit, accusing him of withholding their daughters’ passports and preventing them from returning to England, her home country. He denied the allegations.

Turner later dropped the filing once they reached a co-parenting agreement.

The “Dark Phoenix” star quickly moved on with British aristocrat Peregrine Pearson, though the pair sparked breakup rumors in April after nearly two years of dating.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/24/celebrity-news/sophie-turner-hints-at-current-status-with-ex-joe-jonas/

The brunette beauty arrested alongside Kentucky-based crypto investor John Woeltz for the alleged kidnap and torture of an Italian man in Manhattan is a small-time actor who claims to work as a marketing manager for luxury brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley and whose family lives in Connecticut.

Beatrice Folchi – the 24-year-old who police sources said worked as Woeltz’s assistant – was arrested Friday at the SoHo penthouse where a man from Turin, Italy, told cops he was held hostage and brutally tortured for nearly three weeks, in a sick extortion attempt to gain the password to his cryptocurrency account.

She was charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree unlawful imprisonment, but the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute pending further investigation, a spokesperson said.

But Folchi — who’s originally from Latina, Italy, according to her Facebook profile — bizarrely claimed she wasn’t implicated in the sadistic crimes when approached by The Post Saturday.

“I’m not arrested,” she told The Post in an exclusive interview outside of her ritzy Chelsea apartment building, where she was walking with another woman.

“Everything is going to be told but with a lawyer — I can’t make any comments right now,” added Folchi, who was sporting an all-black outfit, sunglasses and a nearly $1,300 Stella McCartney tote.

The duo turned around and took off in the opposite direction on West 21st Street without answering further questions.

Folchi studied communication and philosophy at the University of Connecticut from 2017 to 2020, and has since held various positions in marketing, according to her LinkedIn.

“Experienced in managing media production and events for prestigious clients in the sports and automotive industries, including Puma, Manchester City, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley,” reads the bio of her profile, which also boasts her fluency in the Italian language.

Profiles for the 5’9” bombshell on IMBD and Backstage show she’s held roles in several movies, short films and series since 2020, including a 2021 drama titled “Butterfly Wings.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/05/24/us-news/meet-crypto-boss-john-woeltzs-young-beautiful-assistant-in-italian-mans-kidnap-and-torture/

A stabbing attack at the main railway station in the German city of Hamburg left multiple people injured on Friday.

Emergency services said 17 people were injured in the attack, though police later increased this number to 18.

Four people suffered life-threatening injuries and six were seriously injured, officials said.

Hamburg police said they had arrested a 39-year-old woman, a German national, near the scene of the crime on platform 13/14.

Suspect thought to have ‘acted alone’

“Based on the findings so far, we assume that she acted alone. Investigations into the background are in full swing,” police said on X.

The police also do not believe that the stabbing was politically motivated, and appeared to be more of a random act. Investigators were looking into whether the suspect may have been mentally ill, police spokesperson Florian Abbenseth said.

The German national is set to be brought before a judge on Saturday, a police spokesman
told the news agency dpa, adding that the woman remains in police custody.

Germany’s rail operator Deutsche Bahn has said train services to the station were disrupted by the police operation, warning of “delays and partial cancellations.”

The attack occurred during rush hour at the station, which is one of the busiest in the country.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke by phone with Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher and offered the federal government’s assistance.

“The news from Hamburg is shocking. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. My thanks go to all the emergency services on the ground for their rapid assistance,” Merz wrote on X.

Third knife attack in Germany this week

The incident is the latest stabbing in Germany in the past week.

Five people in their 20s were injured, four of them seriously, when a Syrian-born man attacked them in the early hours of Sunday morning at a bar in the western city of Bielefeld.

The 35-year-old suspect has been arrested and charged with four counts of attempted murder.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germany-several-injured-in-attack-at-hamburg-train-station/a-72653451

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ twin daughters celebrated their high school graduation as their dad’s sex-trafficking trial continues to rage on.

Jessie and D’Lila Combs, both 18, shared photos and videos from their graduation ceremony at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Calif., to their Instagram Story Friday.

The twins matched in blue caps and gowns as well as similar white heels as they walked on stage.

They were then handed their diplomas by a school administrator as the crowd cheered.

After the procession, they put on a united front by holding hands as they waved their diplomas in the air.

The duo posed for several photos with their friends as they clutched flower bouquets and a stuffed teddy bear. They also showed off their sparkly new class rings.

In a series of videos, Jessie and D’Lila were seen being gifted diamond necklaces from their 31-year-old brother, Justin Dior Combs.

Their older sibling also presented them both with coordinating Van Cleef & Arpels bracelets.

“Thankkkk u Justin we love uuuu,” they captioned their joint post.

Their 27-year-old brother, Christian Combs, also commemorated their academic achievement by posting a video from the event in which he said, “It’s lit! Jessie and D’Lila we see you!”

The youngest Combs kid, 2-year-old Love, was seen sitting on one of her brother’s shoulders as she watched her older sisters from the audience.

Their brother Quincy Brown, 33, posed in some sweet selfies with the graduates, captioning his post, “Congrats Love you J&D!”

This weekend, Jessie and D’Lila got all glammed up in matching red gowns for their senior prom.

Diddy has seven kids with four different women. He welcomed Jessie, D’Lila and Christian with the late Kim Porter, who died at the age of 47 in 2018 due to lobar pneumonia. The rapper had also adopted Quincy, Porter’s kid from a previous relationship.

The Bad Boy Records producer shares Justin with Misa Hylton, Chance, 19, with Sarah Chapman and Love with Dana Tran.

Sean’s eldest daughters finished high school amid the disgraced music mogul’s sex-trafficking trial, which began May 5.

Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who sued Diddy for rape in 2023, took to the witness stand and accused her ex-boyfriend of physically and emotionally abusing her during drug-infused “Freak-Offs” in a harrowing testimony.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/23/celebrity-news/sean-diddy-combs-twins-jessie-and-dlila-graduate-from-high-school-amid-rappers-trial/

In the shadow of Japan’s most iconic peak, a seemingly ordinary bridge has become the latest flashpoint in the country’s growing struggle with overtourism. Locals in Fuji town are complaining of excessive tourist footfall around this scenic spot owing to its rising popularity, which has in turn made their lives tough.

Built in 2016 to connect two major roads in the city of Fuji, located in the Shizuoka prefecture, the now-famous structure, also called the “Mount Fuji Dream Bridge”, was originally promoted by the local government as a picturesque photo spot. With its unique design, the bridge’s staircase appears to lead directly to the summit of Mount Fuji, offering a very surreal and Instagrammable visual for camera-toting tourists.
To encourage visitors, the local authorities provided free parking and even installed multilingual signage asking visitors to keep noise to a minimum while enjoying their moment with Japan’s sacred mountain. What started as a clever tourism push, however, has now spiralled into a logistical and social headache for the surrounding community.

Reports indicate that on days when skies are clear, the bridge attracts up to 1,000 visitors daily, leading to a host of problems. Residents say the influx has led to illegal parking, persistent noise, and even trespassing on private property by overzealous tourists trying to secure the perfect shot. Locals have been complaining about loud noises too, that often start early in the morning.

This is just the latest in a series of overtourism-related incidents affecting Japan in recent years. While the country has worked hard to revive its tourism sector post-pandemic, some initiatives are now backfiring. In Kyoto, locals have grown weary of tourists harassing geisha and wandering into private alleys, prompting bans and stricter regulations. At Mount Fuji, authorities have introduced entry fees, daily visitor caps, and physical barriers to manage crowds and protect the environment.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/travel/news/mount-fuji-dream-bridge-is-the-latest-victim-of-overtourism-in-japan-article-151693758

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to ratchet up his trade war again, pushing for a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warning Apple (AAPL.O), he may slap a 25% levy on all imported iPhones bought by U.S. consumers.
The twin threats, delivered via social media, roiled global markets after weeks of de-escalation had provided some reprieve in the tariff battle. Major U.S. stock indexes and European shares fell and the dollar weakened, while the price of gold, a safe-haven for investors, rose. U.S. Treasury yields fell on fears about tariffs’ effect on economic growth.

Trump’s broadside against the EU was prompted by the White House’s belief that negotiations with the bloc are not progressing fast enough. His saber-rattling also marked a return to Washington’s stop-and-start trade war that has shaken markets, businesses and consumers and raised fears of a global economic downturn.
And the president’s attack on Apple is his latest attempt to pressure a specific company to move production to the United States, following automakers, pharmaceutical companies and chipmakers. The United States, however, does not mass-produce smartphones – even as U.S. consumers buy more than 60 million phones annually – and moving production would likely increase the cost of iPhones by hundreds of dollars.

Later on Friday, Trump told reporters inside the Oval Office that his proposed tariff on Apple would also apply to “Samsung and anybody that makes that product,” apparently referring to smartphones. He said he expected the new phone levy to be in place by the end of June.
Trump reiterated his complaint that the European Union treated the U.S. badly and restricted the U.S. from selling cars into the EU. “And I just said, ‘It’s time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game.'”
“I’m not looking for a deal,” Trump said when asked whether he expected a deal before June 1. “We’ve set the deal – it’s at 50%. But again, there’s no tariff if they build their plant here.”
EU trade Chief Maros Sefcovic said the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, was fully committed to securing a deal that worked for both sides, following a Friday phone call with U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He added that EU-U.S. trade “must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.”

Speaking to reporters in The Hague, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof backed the EU’s strategy in trade talks and said the EU was likely to see this latest announcement as part of the negotiations.
“We have seen before that tariffs can go up and down in talks with the U.S.,” he said.
The White House paused most of the punishing tariffs Trump announced in early April against nearly every country in the world after investors furiously sold off U.S. assets including government bonds and the U.S. dollar. Trump left in place a 10% baseline tax on most imports, and later reduced his massive 145% tax on Chinese goods to 30%.
A 50% levy on EU imports could raise consumer prices on everything from German cars to Italian olive oil.
The EU’s total exports to the United States last year totaled about 500 billion euros ($566 billion), led by Germany (161 billion euros), Ireland (72 billion euros) and Italy (65 billion euros). Pharmaceuticals, cars and auto parts, chemicals and aircraft were among the largest exports, according to EU data.

DISPUTES OVER TARIFFS

The White House has been in trade negotiations with numerous countries, but progress has been unsteady. Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies tried to downplay disputes over the tariffs earlier in the week at a forum in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
“The EU is one of Trump’s least favorite regions, and he does not seem to have good relations with its leaders, which increases the chance of a prolonged trade war between the two,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
Talks with Japan appeared less fraught.
After meeting separately with Lutnick and Greer on Friday, Japan’s top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said the two sides discussed expanding trade, non-tariff barriers and economic security issues. He described their talks as franker and more in-depth than before.
Speaking to reporters, Akazawa said that while it would be great if an agreement could be reached when Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meet at the Group of Seven summit next month in Canada, he would not rush just to secure a deal.
“Our country has national interests that must be protected, so it is not sufficient simply to forge an agreement quickly,” Akazawa said. “As a negotiator, I can tell you that in negotiations the party stuck to a deadline usually loses.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would not comment on other potential trade deals, but said on Fox News that there would be more announced as the end of the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs approaches in July.
Apple declined to comment on Trump’s threat, which would reverse exclusions he granted on smartphones and other electronics imported largely from China in a break for Big Tech firms that sell consumer goods. Apple shares fell 3% after Trump said in an early Truth Social post that he told company CEO Tim Cook “long ago” that “I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else.”
Cook and Trump met on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Apple is speeding up plans to make most iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India by the end of 2026 to navigate potentially higher tariffs in China.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/apple-pay-25-tariff-if-phones-not-made-us-trump-says-2025-05-23/

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday expressed support for Nippon Steel’s (5401.T), $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel (X.N), saying their “planned partnership” would create jobs and help the American economy.
Shares of U.S. Steel soared 21% as investors interpreted Trump’s post on Truth Social to mean Nippon Steel had received his approval for its long-planned takeover, the last major hurdle for the deal.

“This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
This week, Reuters reported that Nippon Steel has said if the merger is approved, it would invest $14 billion into U.S. Steel’s operations, including up to $4 billion in a new steel mill.
Trump added that the bulk of that investment would occur in the next 14 months and said he would hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh next Friday.
U.S. Steel praised Trump’s leadership.
“U.S. Steel will remain American, and we will grow bigger and stronger through a partnership with Nippon Steel that brings massive investment, new technologies, and thousands of jobs,” the company said in a statement.

Nippon Steel also applauded Trump’s decision. “The partnership is a game changer – for U.S. Steel and all of its stakeholders, including the American steel industry, and the broader American manufacturing base,” the Japanese company said in a statement on Saturday.
A Nippon Steel spokesperson in Tokyo declined to comment on the $14 billion investment and the 14-month timeline that Trump cited.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the announcement. It is unclear whether Trump’s term “partnership” refers to the full acquisition Nippon Steel has been pursuing.
For Japan’s top steelmaker, the deal is core to its global expansion strategy, lifting production to 86 million metric tons from 63 million tons now – especially at a time when domestic demand is declining.
The merger would create the world’s third-largest steel producer by volume, following China’s Baowu Steel Group and Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal (MT.LU), according to World Steel Association data.

U.S. Steel kept rising after hours, hitting $54, just shy of the $55 per share that Nippon Steel offered in late 2023. While no details were released, investors expressed confidence that terms will be similar to those agreed in 2023. Investors said that eventually U.S. Steel will no longer be publicly traded and they will receive a cash payout for their shares.
The deal has been one of the most highly anticipated on Wall Street after it morphed into the political arena with fears that foreign ownership would mean job losses in Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is headquartered. It factored into last year’s election, in which Trump regained the White House.
Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick, who also called the deal a “partnership,” said on Friday it was a “huge victory for America and the U.S. Steel Corporation,” which will protect more than 11,000 Pennsylvania jobs and support the creation of at least 14,000 more.

The last pieces of the deal came together surprisingly fast. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which reviews deals for national security risks, told the White House this week that the security risks can be addressed, Reuters reported, moving the final decision to Trump’s desk.
Following an earlier CFIUS-led review, then-President Joe Biden blocked the deal in January on national security grounds. The companies sued, arguing they did not receive a fair review process. The Biden White House rejected that view.
The companies argued Biden opposed the deal when he was running for reelection to win support from the United Steelworkers union in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The Biden administration had defended the review as essential to protecting security, infrastructure and supply chains.
Trump also initially opposed the deal, arguing the company must be owned and operated in the U.S.
The United Steelworkers were against the deal as recently as Thursday when they urged Trump to block the deal despite the $14 billion investment pledge from Trump.
For investors, including prominent hedge funds, the news spells relief after more than a year of waiting for a resolution. “There were huge high-fives all around today,” one recent investor said, adding, “We understood Donald Trump’s psyche and we played it to our advantage here.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/us-steel-remain-america-form-partnership-with-nippon-trump-says-2025-05-23/

SCIENTISTS have finally cracked the mystery behind a “very odd” long-necked sea monster found on the coast of Canada.

The creature, which loosely resembles the infamous Loch Ness monster, measures 12 metres and has large, heavy teeth.

These robust gnashers were ideal for crushing and feasting on ammonites – coiled-shelled cephalopods, according to researchers.

The bizarre elasmosaurus is actually one of North America’s most famous fossils, becoming the official fossil emblem of British Columbia, Canada in 2023.

Three specimens, all roughly 85-million-years old, were found along the Puntledge River on Vancouver Island in 1988.

Except one had a strange mix of primitive and derived traits unlike any other elasmosaurus, according to a new study, published in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.

The fossils were first described in a 2002 study, when experts were reluctant to create a new genus based solely on one adult elasmosaur fossil.

One fossil had a “fascinating and long list of autapomorphic characters” – suggesting it had strong capabilities for downward swimming, researchers wrote.

This set it apart from other plesiosaur – the umbrella species under which elasmosaurus fall.

However, a new “excellently preserved” partial skeleton enabled this latest international team of scientists to shed new light on the creature, and declare it a new species: the Traskasaura sandrae.

“Plesiosaur fossils have been known for decades in British Columbia,” said lead author Professor F. Robin O’Keefe from Marshall University, in West Virginia, US.

“However, the identity of the animal that left the fossils has remained a mystery, even as it was declared BC’s provincial fossil in 2023. Our new research… finally solves this mystery.

“The scientific confusion concerning this taxon is understandable. It has a very odd mix of primitive and derived traits.

“The shoulder, in particular, is unlike any other plesiosaur I have ever seen, and I have seen a few.”

Researchers named the new type of plesiosaur Traskasaura, in honor of Michael and Heather Trask, who discovered the original specimen in 1988, and the Greek word sauros, meaning lizard.

The species name sandrae was inspired by Sandra Lee O’Keefe (nee Markey) who was “a valiant warrior in the fight against breast cancer.” “In loving memory,” the team of authors write.

“With the naming of Traskasaura sandrae, the Pacific Northwest finally has a Mesozoic reptile to call its own,” Professor O’Keefe, an expert on marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs, said.

“Fittingly, a region known for its rich marine life today was host to strange and wonderful marine reptiles in the Age of Dinosaurs.”

He added: “The fossil record is full of surprises. It is always gratifying to discover something unexpected.

“When I first saw the fossils and realized they represented a new taxon, I thought it might be related to other plesiosaurs from the Antarctic.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/14306244/mystery-85-million-year-old-sea-monster-giant-teeth/

DRAMATIC footage has captured the moment a private jet carrying a music star and a talent agent exploded into a fireball after crashing in a San Diego neighborhood.

Six people died in the high-impact smash that claimed the life of rocker Daniel Williams and his agent Dave Shapiro.

Ring doorbell footage captured the impact of the Cessna plane crash just after 3:45 am local time.

A ball of fire could be seen in the background, according to the footage recorded by David Nero’s device and seen by the NBC affiliate KNSD-TV.

The night sky was illuminated by the bursts of light, and then plumes of smoke could be seen billowing.

In the moments leading up to the crash, the pilot had to navigate a series of challenges.

Heavy fog blanketed the neighborhood as the plane tried to land at the Montgomery Gibbs executive airport – located two miles from the eventual crash site.

The pilot asked for a visibility update, but the air traffic control tower was closed, per the Fox affiliate KUSI-TV.

He then turned to a Marine Corps base located around eight miles away.

In order to land at the airfield, pilots must have a visibility of at least three miles, as per the Federal Aviation Administration.

An automatic weather report from the airport did not have any data for visibility and wind, as reported by the ABC affiliate KGTV-TV.

Information linked to the airport’s sky condition was also missing.

Audio recordings, heard by the outlet, revealed the pilot said he would try to land the plane despite the poor conditions.

“Doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” the pilot said.

Investigators have not revealed a cause behind the smash, but they’re probing several factors – the weather being one of those.

David Soucie, a CNN aviation analyst, believes it’s unlikely that the plane ran out of fuel.

He pointed out the fact that jet fuel was spattered across the streets in Tierrasanta – located around 10 miles from downtown San Diego.

The jet, which can carry up to 10 people, smashed into power lines before colliding into a house, according to investigators.

Fuel ignited, which saw cars torched and turned into shells by the side of the road.

Doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go.

Around 100 people in the neighborhood were evacuated and eight people were injured.

Cars were in a mangled state and debris was strewn across the road.

Locals initially thought an earthquake had struck before they realized what had happened.

“My kids woke up as well, they looked out the window and started screaming,” one local told the CBS affiliate KCAL-TV.

FIERY SCENE

“My whole front area was on fire. We were trapped in our home and couldn’t get out.”

Williams and music titan, Dave Shapiro, are the only two victims that have been named.

Williams was formerly a drummer for the Christian rock band The Devil Wears Prada.

He boasted about being on board the private plane and joked he was at the controls in posts uploaded to his Instagram Stories.

The plane left Teterboro airport in New Jersey on Wednesday night before making a stop in Kansas to refuel.

It spent around an hour on the ground before making its way to California.

Williams’ dad later clarified that his son was goofing around, per TMZ.

But Shapiro had a pilot license and boasted about his accomplishment in an Instagram post from 2020.

And, he shared videos of himself performing maneuvers such as loops and inverted rolls.

“Social distancing 6,000 feet from other people is more effective than 6ft,” the caption of one of his videos stated.

The videos were taken in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14307491/san-diego-plane-crash-pilot-victims-fireball/

External affairs minister S Jaishankar, who is on an official visit to Germany, delivered a strong message to Pakistan asserting that India “will never succumb to nuclear blackmail”, and will deal with Pakistan strictly on a bilateral basis.

Expressing support for India after the Pahalgam attack and making its stance clear on Operation Sindoor, Germany has said, India has every right to defend itself against terrorism.

“Germany will support any fight against terrorism. Terrorism must never have a place in the world, anywhere, and this is why we will support everyone who fights and has to fight terrorism,” Germany’s Foreign affairs Minister, Johann Wadephul said in his remarks on India’s Operation Sindoor during a joint press conference with EAM Jaishankar.”We appreciate that a ceasefire has been reached” he added.

On being asked that the German government did not voice support for India’s Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar said, “I think you are misinformed. In fact, we had a conversation on the 7th of May, which is when we initiated our operations. It was a very understanding and positive conversation. And quite honestly, even before that, the German government had expressed solidarity.”

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/every-right-to-defend-itself-against-terrorism-germany-backs-indias-operation-sindoor-video

ON June 18 2023, five passengers entered the deep sea submersible Titan on a mission to reach the final resting place of the Titanic.

Two miles down beneath the ocean’s surface, it suffered a catastrophic failure and imploded in a split second.

Those on board – which included 19-year-old British teenager Suleman Dawood – were crushed to death instantly.

All around the world, people waited with baited breaths for news of the missing sub, which now lay on the seabed just like the ship it was trying to visit.

It was seen as a devastating accident, a terrible engineering failure.

But new evidence reveals it may have not simply been the result of bad luck.

Instead, a string of safety failures and inaction in the lead up to the implosion made disaster a question of when, not if.

And to many, the blame lies with one man and his ego – that of Stockton Rush, the American businessman who not only created Titan, but would go on to become one of its victims.

Now, shocking new evidence reveals that the sub was already disintegrating long before that fateful day, as revealed in the upcoming BBC documentary Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster.

“We all know who the culprit is,” said Christine Dawood, whose son and husband were killed by the disaster.

“The culprit died with them. So who am I to blame?”

A US coastguard investigation is now underway.

The businessman Stockton Rush since a kid had felt the explorer’s’ urge, harbouring dreams of being the first person to step foot on Mars.

With two ancestors having signed the Declaration of Independence, he was the closest you could get to American Royalty.

And it wasn’t long before he set his sights on the deep ocean.

Experimental danger

Using his status and connections, he was able to convince a handful of other businessmen to invest hundreds of thousands into his plan to regularly send people on trips to view the Titanic with their own eyes with his company OceanGate.

But unlike other subs, which are built out of steel or titanium, Stockton was determined to make his out of carbon fibre, which was lighter and cheaper.

Yet this material – combined with Stockton’s hubris – would prove to be its downfall.

Early in the project, Stockton decided to avoid registering his sub, ensuring that no one was able to regulate the sub or monitor its operations.

To him, the rules and regulations were over the top and unnecessary.

This was despite the fact it was planned to carry five passengers more than two miles beneath the ocean’s surface.

But for Stockton, the risk was part of the fun, as revealed by a question he asked to underwater technician, Petros Mathioudakis.

“I was aware this was extremely risky and Stockton was very clear,” Petros recalled.

“He said: ‘Do you have a wife, do you have kids?’ I said nope. He said, ‘Alright, you’re in.’”

Shockingly, this was far from the only time others noticed serious concerns with Stockton’s callous attitude.

With a second season of dives in the North Atlantic now underway, Antonella Wilby joined the OceanGate team in 2022.

“From the moment I stepped onto the ship, I had to sign a liability waiver,” she said.

I’d be walking around and cables would be loose or unplugged

“Stockton was there in a room full of people, some of whom had paid a lot of money to be there.

“He said, we’re registered in the Bahamas, and they don’t do punitive damages, so don’t even bother trying to sue me.”

“I wasn’t even aware of how ridiculous and unsafe the operation was,” Antonella added.

“Even just the level of attention to detail in inspecting or prediving the sub – I’d be walking around and cables would be loose or unplugged.

“It felt like watching some really bizarre surrealist movie or something and I was the only one going, this is insane, right?”

But Antonella was far from the only person to have serious concerns.

Cracking carbon

Back in 2019, Stockton was testing whether the carbon fibre hull would be able to withstand the pressure of the deep ocean at the depth of the Titanic – equivalent to two and a half tonnes bearing down on every square inch of the hull.

Submersible pilot Karl Stanley was on this trip when he heard a concerning bang.

Then, the lights went out.

“The supposed goal of the trip was to test it to the exact depth of the Titanic. We got 96 per cent of the way there,” he said.

“The cracking sounds were continuing, so we came to a decision to call it a day.

“I’m sure we were within a few percentage points of implosion.”

On the surface, a crack was found – evidence that the carbon fibre hull was ripping itself apart.

Stockton was forced to completely replace the hull.

Yet once again, he chose carbon fibre, convinced that only minor modifications were needed to make the sub safe.

Though further test dives were still plagued by numerous bangs and pops – the sound of the hull gradually breaking apart – Stockton confessed to one documentary maker that he solved this problem by putting in earplugs.

Come 2021, and dives were once again underway.

Anybody who went down in it either knew, or should have known, how risky it was

Businessman and adventurer Alfred Hagen was on board dive 61 when an even more serious incident occurred.

“Anybody who went down in it either knew, or should have known, how risky it was,” he said.

“They were either embracing that reality, or delusional.”

The dive had been abandoned at just seven metres when, as the sub was hauled up the ramp, the end dome came clean off.

Only four out of a possible eighteen bolts had been used to secure it on, and they had all sheared.

Desperate to keep the incident quiet, Stockton tried to get hold of any photos taken of the broken sub.

Yet despite these setbacks, OceanGate were able to celebrate six successful dives to Titanic depths that summer – and returned for a second season the year after.

Then, something would happen that doomed the sub once and for all.

Alfred was once again back on board for Dive 80.

This time, they made it to the Titanic.

Death trap

“We were ascending, and we were fairly close to the surface,” he remembered.

“And then we heard a loud crack. It sounded like the ship breaking apart.”

Stockton again insisted that such bangs were normal, and that every deep diving sub makes a noise like that at least once.

But coastguard analysis of that moment shows that this could not have been further from the truth.

What the sub was in fact going through was a process called delamination – or in layman’s terms, the layers of carbon fibre were ripping themselves apart.

Everybody that stepped on the Titan after dive 80 was risking their life

“Their systems said there had been a fundamental change in the material of your carbon fibre and it was no longer structurally sound,” Lt. Commander Katie Williams of the US Coast Guard told the documentary.

“Delamination at dive 80 was the beginning of the end. And everybody that stepped on the Titan after dive 80 was risking their life.

“After then, every time you were going down to depth, you were further damaging that hull – eventually something was going to happen.”

But when team members tried to raise concerns, they were laughed out the room, as Antonella found.

“I wanted to say something. I went to Amber Bay, the director of the administration, and I told her I was really concerned that they were going to continue diving,” she says.

“Her initial response was: ‘Yes, people are really concerned about you too – you don’t have an explorer’s mindset.’

“I also talked to Phil Brooks, the director of engineering. He said ‘We’ll do the next dive and we’ll visually inspect it.’

“I said, something’s gone really wrong here. They offered to send me home, and I said yes.”

“People wouldn’t even make eye contact with me,” she added.

Amber Bay denies dismissing these safety concerns and claims she told Antonella to report her concerns to Brooks.

Brooks says he has no recollection of Antonella expressing any concerns to him following dive 80.

Stockton, as ever, was undeterred.

Catastrophic implosion

“I think he pinned himself into a corner,” said Karl.

“If he admits defeat and failure, and then has to tell this to people that had given him so much money, what’s the rest of his life going to look like?

“There’s no possible way that Stockton didn’t know how this was going to end,” he added.

“It was just a matter of is it going to fail with me in it, or other people?”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14311485/titan-titanic-sub-bbc-documentary-implosion-disaster/

JOE Biden has been seen in public for the first time since he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that’s spread to his bones.

Biden put on a brave face and smiled at fans despite his health battle raising questions about his fitness to serve as Commander in Chief.

The former president seemed in good spirits at the airport after traveling to see his grandson, Hunter, graduate.

TikTok user Leah Juliett caught a video of Biden shaking people’s hands as they applauded and gave their well-wishes.

“Random moment of humanity,” wrote the TikToker on the viral video that showed Biden grimacing as he tried to speed through the crowd.

Jill Biden reposted the video on her Instagram and wrote, “Thank you for the warm welcome!”

She also shared a family picture featuring Biden as they celebrated his grandson Robert Hunter Biden II, who appeared to be graduating.

Hunter is the son of Beau, who died of cancer in 2015, and is named after his uncle.

Biden got his diagnosis after he went to the doctor for urinary issues, and they discovered a prostate nodule.

His cancer was ranked nine under the Gleason grading system, which means it is one of the most aggressive kinds.

However, his team said the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, which means that it could be “effectively managed.”

Biden’s diagnosis sparked a wave of prayers for his recovery, but also raised eyebrows after he was given a clean bill of health while serving as president.

Longterm physician Kevin O’Connor said the 82-year-old president was fully fit to serve as president for another four years, despite insiders claiming there were clear signs of mental decline.

A wave of criticism hit the former president after CNN anchor Jake Tapper published a bombshell book that claims Biden didn’t recognize George Clooney and was “out of it” at an important meeting.

Donald Trump, who wished for a quick recovery, said he was “shocked” the public didn’t know the news sooner.

He spoke of Dr. O’Connor on Monday evening saying, “I think that if you take a look, it’s the same doctor that said that Joe was cognitively fine.

“And that’s proven to be a sad situation.”

‘CANCER TOUCHES EVERYONE’

Biden hadn’t been seen since Monday, when he posted a smiling selfie of himself sitting with his wife Jill.

In an emotional statement, he wrote, “Cancer touches us all.

“Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.

“Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

Presidents aren’t required to share any of their health details with the public, but the White House often chooses to publish physical exams proving they’re in fighting shape.

A long line of presidents kept health battles hidden from the public, including Grover Cleveland, who had a tumor removed on his friend’s yacht to dodge speculation.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14312083/joe-biden-cancer-picture-prostate-diagnosis-update/

A HUGE fire has ripped through a London tower block, with flames engulfing flats and thick smoke pouring into the sky.

Seventy-five firefighters were scrambled to tackle the dramatic blaze.

Ten fire engines were sent to the scene on Rochester Row as the London Fire Brigade (LFB) launched a significant emergency response.

The fire broke out in a seven-storey residential block in Westminster, Central London, shortly before 8pm.

Emergency services were alerted after receiving 23 calls about the incident, which has caused major disruption in the area.

The London Fire Brigade confirmed the fire is located on the sixth floor of the building.

Two of the Brigade’s 32-metre ladders and the specialist Drone Team have been deployed to assist with the response.

In a statement, the Brigade said: “Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters are responding to a fire on Rochester Row, Westminster.

“The fire involves a sixth floor flat, in a residential block of seven floors.

“Two of the Brigade’s 32m ladders have been deployed to the scene, alongside the Drone Team.

“People are advised to avoid the area as crews respond, with local traffic being heavily impacted.

“The Brigade received the first of 23 calls reporting the fire at 1950, with Control Officers mobilising crews from Lambeth, Soho, Paddington and surrounding fire stations to the scene in response.

“Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control by 2132.”

Crews from Lambeth, Soho and Paddington were among those quickly dispatched to the scene.

Roads near the site remain closed as emergency services continue their work.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The blaze is believed to have started at Emanuel House, a residential building in Westminster.

Videos shared on social media appear to show flames and smoke coming from the block, which is understood to be owned freehold by Westminster City Council.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14312826/huge-fire-rips-london-tower-block/

A French court on Friday found the ringleader and seven others guilty in relation to the 2016 armed robbery of Kim Kardashian.

Seven of the convicted received prison sentences of between three and eight years, some of which were suspended, while another received a fine. Two other defendants were acquitted.

Chief Judge David De Pas said the court considered the defendants’ ages and health when deciding on their sentences. Six of the defendants are now in their 60s and 70s. The judges described the sentences as “not very severe.”

In October 2016, robbers wearing ski masks and disguised as police tied up the US celebrity in her Paris hotel room, before making off with the ring given to her by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and other jewels, with a total value of $10 million (€8.8 million).

‘The most terrifying experience of my life,’ says Kardashian

Kardashian traveled to Paris to testify earlier this month, telling the court she feared for her life during the ordeal.

The reality TV star said in a statement issued after Friday’s verdict that she was “deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case.”

“The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family. While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice, and promoting a fair legal system.”

A different statement from her legal team said that “Kim appreciates the court’s decision. It has been a long journey from that terrible night. She looks forward to putting this tragic episode behind her.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/eight-of-kim-kardashians-robbers-found-guilty-in-paris-court/a-72654773

Just as promised during the election campaign, US President Donald Trump wants to install a new missile defense system to protect the US from threats by air and even outer space.

The “Golden Dome” would cost at least $175 billion (€154 billion) and is to be completed by the end of Trump’s term of office in January 2029, Trump explained earlier this week.

According to the Pentagon, the US faces a growing threat from Russia and China. Critics, however, warn of the enormous costs and an unrealistic timeframe.

Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concerns about the procurement process and the possible involvement of SpaceX, the company owned by Trump’s ally Elon Musk.

The project has already caused international uproar. The Chinese Foreign Ministry accused President Donald Trump of undermining “global strategic balance and stability”.

Canada has shown interest in joining the US in its Golden Dome plan.

How would the Golden Dome function?

The Israeli Iron Dome, which intercepts short and medium-range rockets and artillery shells, is said to be the model for the American Golden Dome. The Israeli system has been in use since March 2011. It comprises a radar unit, a control center and a missile launcher.

In contrast to Trump’s Golden Dome, however, the Iron Dome was designed to protect a small territory. It is a mobile system that can be deployed in many places.

On the other hand, the US version is said to be capable of defending against intercontinental missiles with nuclear weapons.

The defense project builds on US plans from the time of former President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989). Reagan had wanted a missile defense shield based on the sci-fi film series “Star Wars”, in which interceptor systems were to be placed in space.

“The Golden Dome will progressively protect our nation from aerial attacks from any foe,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Within the last four decades, our adversaries have developed more advanced and lethal long-range weapons than ever before, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles capable of striking the homeland with either conventional or nuclear warheads,” he added.

Yet, it remains to be seen how the Golden Dome will work.

A Greek “Iron Dome”?

In addition to the US, other countries have adopted the Iron Dome as a model, or at least used it as an effective media catchphrase for their defense systems.

“We need to differentiate between the Iron Dome, which is a short to medium-range range system — it became a brand name like Coca Cola that now everybody uses as it is highly successful,” Shachar Shohat, an Israeli retired Brigade General, told the military news magazine Defense News in February.

In late 2024, Greece for example, announced that it would significantly expand its defense budget and build a protective shield similar to the Israeli Iron Dome against drones and missiles. Athens argued that the progress of the European Sky Shield air defense system was too slow.

However, the Greek “Iron Dome” differs from the Israeli mobile missile defense system as the threat is different, explained Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias. Greece must, above all, defend itself against drone attacks.

Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), told the US magazine Newsweek in October 2023 that several countries have shown interest in the Iron Dome system over the past decade. “Romania and Cyprus in 2022; Azerbaijan in 2016; South Korea in 2012; India in 2010; and Singapore in 2009. But India and South Korea ultimately did not go ahead with those plans, and in the other cases, there is no confirmation of actual orders or deliveries,” he said.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/is-trumps-new-golden-dome-defense-system-realistic/a-72627607

South Africans voiced disappointment at US President Donald Trump’s treatment of their president, Cyril Ramaphosa, during talks at the White House on Wednesday.

Repeatedly interrupted by Trump, Ramaphosa calmly challenged claims that minority Afrikaners were the targets of a “white genocide.”

A video aired by Trump during the meeting in Washington showed the leader of a fringe, radical opposition party chanting a song from the anti-apartheid struggle about “killing” white farmers.

Trump also repeated allegations that South Africa was expropriating land from the minority white Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch settlers who own more than three-quarters of commercial farmland.

A local man in Cape Town told Deutsche Welle: “I think [Ramaphosa] was treated very disrespectfully. While I may not agree with many of the things that are happening in our country there is no reason to treat our president like that.”

Another woman added: “That was a very immature way to deal with the situation on Donald Trump’s part. He should open himself up to hearing what Ramaphosa has to say about his own country.”

Ramaphosa’s diplomatic approach praised

Ramaphosa, 72, rose to prominence during apartheid as a mining union leader. After helping bring white minority rule to an end, he became a successful businessman before returning to frontline politics and becoming president in 2018.

The manner in which he conducted himself during Trump’s accusations drew the praise of his party, the African National Congress (ANC).

“His conduct was in keeping with the proud diplomatic tradition of President Nelson Mandela,” the ANC said, invoking the legacy of the revered liberation struggle leader and the country’s first Black president.

The current South African president’s extensive network was evident in the Oval Office, where he was accompanied by luxury goods billionaire Johann Rupert, South Africa’s richest man, and by champion golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

The three men and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, all of whom are white, were invited by South African leader to address Trump, who listened to them without interrupting — in contrast to how he treated Ramaphosa.

The South African delegation might have been braced for a hostile reception with Trump having cut aid to South Africa and threatened it with a 30% trade tariff under his “Liberation Day” regime.

Trump has also expelled the South African ambassador and offered refuge to Afrikaners based on claims of persecution Ramaphosa’s government says are unfounded.

“There is criminality in our country. People who do get killed, unfortunately, through criminal activity are not only white people. Majority of them are Black people,” said Ramaphosa.

‘Admiration’ for Ramaphosa delegation from South Africans

Ebrahim Rasool, who served as South Africa’s ambassador to the United States until he was expelled earlier in 2025, told DW that Ramaphosa dealt with the televised meeting in Washington with “dignity.”

“On the one hand, there is anger and disappointment [in South Africa] about the way President Donald Trump handled the meeting,” he said. “There is also admiration for the dignity, unity and diversity of the South African delegation. When we couldn’t get our words in, the body language, diversity and dignity of the South African delegation spoke volumes.”

Throughout the meeting, Ramaphosa maintained a calm demeanor, complimenting Trump on his changes to the Oval Office decor and joking about having worked on his own golf so he could take on the US president, who loves the sport.

Even after Trump began his attacks and played a video that falsely purported to show thousands of graves of white farmers in South Africa, Ramaphosa tried to defuse tensions with humor.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/trumps-treatment-of-ramaphosa-disappoints-south-africans/a-72639122

The Trump administration has revoked Harvard University’s right to admit international students, affecting thousands, including many from India.

In a significant move, the Donald Trump administration in the US stepped up its clash with Harvard University by stripping the school of its right to admit international students. The decision has left thousands of foreign students — including hundreds from India — in a state of uncertainty.

The international students have been told to either transfer to another institution or risk losing their legal status in the US.

Harvard’s official website says that anywhere between 500 to 800 Indian students and scholars are part of the university every year. Right now, 788 students from India are enrolled at the university.

The move could significantly affect Harvard University, which enrols nearly 6,800 international students, most of them in graduate programmes. Those students may now have to scramble to figure out their next steps.

Why did the Trump administration take this step?

The Department of Homeland Security took this latest step because Harvard University refused to comply with requests to produce records about its foreign students, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said in a letter.

Noem accused Harvard of “perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies and employs racist diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies.’” Harvard said the action is unlawful and undermines the school’s research mission.

Does government have authority over a private college’s enrollment?

The US government has authority over who comes into the country. The department of homeland security oversees which colleges are part of the Student Exchange and Visitor Program, and on Thursday it said it would remove Harvard.

The programme gives colleges the ability to issue documentation to foreign students admitted to the schools. Then, the students apply to obtain visas to study in the United States.

Will Harvard’s current international students be allowed to graduate?

Yes, students who completed their degrees this semester will be allowed to graduate. Noem’s letter said the changes would take effect for the 2025-2026 school year. Harvard’s Class of 2025 is expected to graduate next week.

However, Noem said students who have yet to complete their degree need to transfer to another university, or they will lose their legal permission to remain in the US.

Will admitted students be able to enrol at Harvard in the fall?

No, not unless the government changes its decision or a court steps in. For now, Noem said Harvard could restore its status as a host institution for foreign students if it complied with a list of demands within 72 hours. Those demands include requests for a range of records, such as disciplinary records for international students, plus audio and video recordings of protest activity.

Harvard previously declined to provide those records. On Thursday, the university said it was working to provide guidance to affected students.

How else has the Trump administration targeted Harvard?

Harvard University’s tussle with the Trump administration dates to early April. The storied institution became the first elite college to refuse to comply with the government’s demands to limit pro-Palestinian protests and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies. That kicked off a series of escalating actions against Harvard. Various federal agencies, including DHS and the National Institutes of Health, have cut their grant funding to Harvard, significantly impacting research projects conducted by faculty. Harvard has sued the administration, seeking to end the grant freeze.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/donald-trump-vs-harvard-university-what-it-means-for-788-indian-students-and-thousands-more-enrolment-101747958408101.html

THE bones of a long-extinct human ancestor have been dredged up from the seafloor, just off the coast of what is now known as Indonesia.

The discovery reveals a previously unknown Homo erectus population in Southeast Asia who occupied land before it became an ocean.

A cache of bones was pulled from the seafloor as part of a construction project off the island of Java and another smaller island called Madura.

Researchers, who published four separate studies on their findings, say it is the first time fossils have been found in the submerged areas of the Indonesian archipelago.

During the last Ice Age, sea levels were much lower than they are today.

Mountainous glaciers and vast, icy tundras stored water that eventually fed into the ocean over the course of several millennia.

There were areas of the Earth that were not only habitable but occupied by our ancient ancestors, before they were lost to the sea.

These lost lands, called Sundaland, were once vast open plains with flowing rivers around 140,000 years ago.

The newly discovered Homo erectus bones were found among a bounty of more than 6,000 animal fossils.

Fossil remains have revealed the rivers of Sundaland would have been fertile hunting grounds for the Homo erectus.

The rivers were teeming with fish, turtles, river sharks, hippos and other marine life, according to the new fossils.

While land-walking giants such as elephants, the elephant-like Stegodon and water buffalo also populated the plains, according to the studies, published in the journal Quaternary Environments and Human.

There was once a valley between Java and Madura, which is now a body of seawater called the Madura Strait.

Cut marks found on some of the fossils suggest our ancient ancestors once hunted turtles on the land beneath the Madura Strait – which is the earliest evidence of this, according to researchers.

Although larger game was also on the table.

These hominins were targeting cow-like bovids in their prime, according to researchers, which the Indonesian Homo erectus isn’t known for.

The different hunting strategy is associated with more modern humans on the Asian mainland, suggesting the Homo erectus may have interacted with more modern humans.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/14301216/mysterious-human-ancestor-bone-found-lost-land-sundaland-indonesia/

VICE President JD Vance has defied his newly elected Holy Father with a staunch stance on immigration, and said Americans can’t follow the Pontiff on every issue.

Vance continues to drive a wedge between himself and Pope Leo after the newly elected church leader fired off tweets criticizing the VP’s political views.

In a conversation with the New York Times’ Ross Douthat, Vance opened up about how he’s balanced his position as VP with his Catholic faith.

He said that, while Pope Leo is indeed a “shepherd” for the global church, he still has a duty to maintain law and order in America.

Vance ripped into the newly elected pontiff’s more liberal immigration views, explaining that he’s trying to create a country where Americans are more united.

He fears that unfettered immigration can divide communities and limit access to jobs and benefits offered to citizens.

“The point that I’ve tried to make is I think a lot about this question of social cohesion in the United States,” he explained.

“And I do think that those who care about what might be called the common good, they sometimes underweigh how destructive immigration at the levels and at the pace that we’ve seen over the last few years is to the common good.

“I really do think that social solidarity is destroyed when you have too much migration too quickly.”

Vance went on to praise President Donald Trump’s border crackdown and said that the administration is working overtime to stop the flow of illegal immigration.

He stressed that he respects everyone who flocks to American soil after fleeing violence or poverty, but maintained his responsibility to US citizens.

“I have a very sacred obligation, I think, to enforce the laws and to promote the common good of my own country, defined as the people with the legal right to be here,” he said.

Vance’s thinly veiled hit came after faithfuls across the globe were shocked when scrolling through Pope Leo’s X feed when he was first elected.

The Holy Father, who is the first American Pope in the history of the church, kept up an active internet presence and appeared to share his truth thoughts on Donald Trump’s presidency.

One of his latest reposts on X was a critique of Trump’s immigration crackdown from Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo.

In the post, the writer quoted, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”

A few posts before this, Pope Leo, whose birth name is Robert Prevost, shared a series of articles questioning some of Vance’s political statements.

One headline published in the National Catholic Reporter read, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for other.”

The article was penned after Vance told Fox News, “We should love our family first, then our neighbors, then love our community, then our country, and only then consider the interests of the rest of the world.”

FRANCIS’ PROTEGE

Though Pope Leo made history by being the first American to ever hold the powerful post, his election wasn’t surprising to those working in the Vatican.

In 2023, Prevost had been asked to move to the church’s headquarters and work in an elite position where he vetted potential cardinals.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14300022/jd-vance-pope-leo-immigration-meeting/

THE former drummer for metal band The Devil Wears Prada was killed in a plane crash hours after sharing an eerie post in the cockpit.

Ex-drummer Daniel Williams and talent agent Dave Shapiro died in a fireball crash in a San Diego neighborhood on Thursday morning.

The private Cessna plane crashed around 4 am Pacific after Williams shared a picture of himself at the plane’s controls.

An Instagram post showed him at the plane’s controls, and he had written a caption, “Here we gooooo.”

Shortly before the flight took off, he also posted a picture tagging Shapiro, 42, who owned the plane and used to work with the Christian metal band Williams drummed in for years.

Williams also posted a picture of the plane controls and wrote, “Hey. Hey … you … look at me … I’m the (co)pilot now.”

The Devil Wears Prada confirmed the deaths by posting a montage of pictures of both Williams and Shapiro on their Instagram late this afternoon.

They wrote, “No words. We owe you everything. Love you forever.”

Williams was seen boarding a Cessna 550 at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey late Wednesday night.

Tracking data showed that the aircraft, with a tail number of N666DS, took off from the airport at 11:15 pm.

The Cessna then stopped for fuel in Wichita, Kansas, before continuing on to California.

Shapiro’s death was confirmed by his talent agency, Sound Talent Group.

“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues, and friends,” said a spokesperson for STG.

“Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy. Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time.”

At least two other STG employees died in the crash, Billboard reported.

Aside from being a music agent, Shapiro was an avid pilot and flying instructor with 15 years of experience.

Terrance Coughlin, a music executive, also paid tribute, saying on X, “Rest in Peace Dave Shapiro, Daniel Williams, and everyone on that flight.

“Some of my very first shows were booked through Dave.

“I had a handful of shows with Daniel, always a pleasure to see him play. Gone way too soon.”

The plane plummeted about two miles from its intended destination at San Diego’s Montgomery-Gibbs Executive airport.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14302727/daniel-williams-san-diego-plane-crash-cessna-post/

PRESIDENT Donald Trump was astonished to meet a giant 7-foot-9 college basketball player on Wednesday at the White House.

The Florida Gators visited Donald Trump at the Oval Office to celebrate their national championship title.

A video of Trump and Rioux meeting each other was captured at the White House.

Trump was shocked to see Florida’s Olivier Rioux, who’s three inches away from being an astounding 8 feet tall.

Rioux hovered over Trump, who noted the 19-year-old’s height.

“To be that tall, I think it’s great,” Trump said, as seen in a clip from White House communications advisor Margo Martin.

The pair shook hands and then posed for a photo.

Then in the clip, Trump asked if Roux was a good player, and someone could be heard off-camera saying that he was “getting there.”

Roux didn’t play in the Gators’ national championship game victory over the Houston Cougars last month.

“Boy, what a big advantage, huh?” Trump then said of Roux’s stature.

Rioux didn’t appear on the court during the season.

He redshirted for the 2024-25 season.

The Canadian native supposedly stood at 6-foot-1 at the age of eight.

Rioux was on the bench as he saw Florida narrowly beat Houston 65-63 on April 7.

Trump was later speaking in the East Room with the Gators players behind him.

The commander-in-chief and coach Todd Golden held up a “Trump 47” Florida jersey for a photo.

Trump has gotten to meet numerous sports champions since he returned to office in January.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/sport/14299638/donald-trump-olivier-rioux-florida-gators-white-house/

U.S. President Donald Trump showed a screenshot of Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented on Wednesday as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans.
“These are all white farmers that are being buried,” said Trump, holding up a print-out of an article accompanied by the picture during a contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In fact, the video, published by Reuters on February 3 and subsequently verified by the news agency’s fact check team, showed humanitarian workers lifting body bags in the Congolese city of Goma. The image was pulled from Reuters footage shot following deadly battles with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
The blog post showed to Ramaphosa by Trump during the White House meeting was published by American Thinker, a conservative online magazine, about conflict and racial tensions in South Africa and Congo.
The post did not caption the image but identified it as a “YouTube screen grab” with a link to a video news report about Congo on YouTube, which credited Reuters.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Andrea Widburg, managing editor at American Thinker and the author of the post in question, wrote in reply to a Reuters query that Trump had “misidentified the image.”
She added, however, that the post, which referred to what it called Ramaphosa’s “dysfunctional, race-obsessed Marxist government”, had “pointed out the increasing pressure placed on white South Africans.”
The footage from which the picture was taken shows a mass burial following an M23 assault on Goma, filmed by Reuters video journalist Djaffar Al Katanty.

“That day, it was extremely difficult for journalists to get in … I had to negotiate directly with M23 and coordinate with the ICRC to be allowed to film,” Al Katanty said. “Only Reuters has video.”

Al Katanty said seeing Trump holding the article with the screengrab of his video came as a shock.

“In view of all the world, President Trump used my image, used what I filmed in DRC to try to convince President Ramaphosa that in his country, white people are being killed by Black people,” Al Katanty said.
Ramaphosa visited Washington this week to try to mend ties with the United States after persistent criticism from Trump in recent months over South Africa’s land laws, foreign policy, and alleged bad treatment of its white minority, which South Africa denies.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/trumps-image-dead-white-farmers-came-reuters-footage-congo-not-south-africa-2025-05-22/

Gigi Hadid’s sister Marielle Hadid revealed she put in a good word for Travis Kelce with Taylor Swift before they started dating.

During an appearance on the “Nice Girls Don’t Win” podcast, Marielle recalled doing a tarot card reading for Swift before the pop star’s Eras Tour show in Santa Clara, Calif., in summer 2023.

“I did pull a card for her because I had seen something where [Travis Kelce] had said that he wanted to date her,” Marielle, 44, told hosts Amy Bean and Parvati Shallow on Wednesday’s episode.

Following the NFL star’s public declaration, Marielle said she told Gigi, 30, and Swift, 35, that the singer “should date” Kelce.

“So I told Gigi and I told her, I was like, ‘Come on, even if it’s just for fun,’” she recalled, noting this took place before the future lovebirds had actually met.

“So I pulled this card for her, and I don’t exactly remember which deck it was, but I remember that it was in regards to this, and the word ‘swiftly’ was in the reading.”

“She said she had never had a tarot card reading before, which I thought was interesting,” Marielle added, joking, “So I take all responsibility for [the relationship]!”

Bean then asked Marielle whether she told Swift that Kelce, 35, would be a “good lay.”

“I did!” Marielle confirmed. “I was like, ‘Come on.’ … She deserves it.”

A rep for Swift did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

The Grammy winner confirmed her relationship with Kelce at a Kansas City Chiefs game in September 2023, just two months after he expressed romantic interest in the “Cruel Summer” songstress on his “New Heights” podcast.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/22/celebrity-news/gigi-hadids-sister-joked-with-taylor-swift-about-good-lay-travis-kelce/

Joe Jonas was scared to catch the “lovebug” again after his divorce from Sophie Turner.

The singer admitted getting back into dating was “scary and intimidating” as he reflected on creating his new song “Only Love.”

“I was seeing somebody at the time and I was kind of having this idea of dating again. It was really scary and intimidating,” he said during a TalkShopLive stream Wednesday.

“Love takes different shapes and forms and I was rediscovering what that was,” he added.

However, the unidentified person he was dating at the time quickly dismissed his fears by telling him, “Well, it’s only love.”

“I was like, ‘Well, when you put it that way…’ So we wrote a song about it,” Jonas, 35, shared.

“Like, it was not a big deal, but it was a big deal to me, and a big deal to them, too. But it’s OK to take a leap of faith and just try again and put yourself out there.”

“Only Love” will appear on the musician’s new album, “Music for People Who Believe in Love,” dropping Friday.

Jonas and Turner finalized their divorce in September 2024 after a messy custody battle over their two daughters, Willa, 4, and Delphine, 2.

The “Game of Thrones” alum, 29, had previously launched a lawsuit against the DNCE singer, accusing him of withholding their daughters’ passports and preventing them from returning to England, her home country.

In a statement from his rep, the Jonas Brothers band member denied his ex’s allegations, calling the lawsuit a “harsh legal position” that went against the “amicable co-parenting setup” he believed they were working toward.

Turner eventually dropped the filing after they reached a co-parenting agreement.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/05/22/celebrity-news/joe-jonas-confesses-scary-and-intimidating-part-of-sophie-turner-divorce/

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials on Thursday (May 22) of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington took place.

Israel has faced a blizzard of criticism from Europe of late as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian enclave on the brink of famine.

Saar did not name any countries or officials but said the climate of hostility towards Israel was behind the shooting of the embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim outside a Jewish museum in Washington on Wednesday.

Saar, at a news conference in Jerusalem, said the attack was a direct outcome of “toxic antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world” since Hamas militants’ cross-border attack on Israel in October 2023.

“There is a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israel incitement to this murder,” he said. “This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and organisations, especially from Europe.”

Saar declined to identify which leader or officials he had in mind. But his remarks came after increasingly tough words from Western allies of Israel including France and Britain, which joined Canada this week in warning of possible “concrete action” against Israel over its war in Gaza.

US officials said a suspect who chanted pro-Palestinian slogans was in custody. President Donald Trump and a wide range of European and other foreign leaders condemned the attack.

Saar said the “global atmosphere” against Israel had worsened sharply since the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken as hostage back into the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Israel’s air and ground campaign has killed over 53,000 Palestinians and laid waste to the densely populated territory, drawing mass protests across the world ranging from US university campuses to the streets of European cities.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/israel-accuses-europe-antisemitic-incitement-after-washington-shooting-5147051

Muhammad Yunus, the head of the interim government in Bangladesh, threatened to resign if all the parties didn’t offer him their full support. This came a day after Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman called for elections to be held by December and the BNP sought a road map for polls. Yunus’ resignation buzz is being seen as a ploy to launch a fresh agitation in Dhaka.

In a desperate bid to garner support after being cornered, the head of the interim government in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, threatened to resign. This came after protests by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday and a stern warning by Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman a day earlier. Student leaders are meanwhile rallying youths and Islamists to protest in Dhaka and march to the Army Cantonment, especially after the Friday prayers, according to sources in government departments and posts on social media.

The buzz around Yunus’ resignation is being seen as a ploy to launch an agitation against the Army chief who wants elections to be held. Elections, whenever held, will end Yunus’ term as the de facto prime minister of Bangladesh.

From getting the Awami League banned to stalling women’s reforms to gutting Mujibur Rahman’s Dhanmondi 32 residence, mobs of students and Islamists have had their way in Bangladesh. In every case, Yunus was complicit in silence if not in the planning.

Yunus’ threat to resign comes as dramatically as he assumed the office of the Chief Adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh after a students-led agitation against job reservation turned into an anti-Sheikh Hasina movement, forcing the Prime Minister to flee Dhaka on August 5, 2024.

Nahid Islam, one of the leaders of last year’s agitation and Convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP) floated by the students, told BBC Bangla that Muhammad Yunus had threatened he would resign as he was unable to carry on with his work amid the current political environment and protests.

“I am being held hostage… I can’t work like this. Can’t all the political parties reach a common ground?” Nahid Islam quoted Yunus as saying.

Nahid resigned from Yunus’ Cabinet in February to head the newly floated NCP.

Another top NCP leader, Ariful Islam Adeeb, who was present during the meeting with Yunus on Thursday evening at Jamuna, the state guest house, told AFP that Nahid urged him to continue in office.

Nahid told BBC Bangla that he met Yunus after the buzz that the chief adviser was planning to resign.

Yunus asked the student leaders to form another interim government as he didn’t want to continue, Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo reported, quoting sources.

Not just Nahid Islam, some other members of Yunus Cabinet like Information and Broadcasting Adviser Mahfuj Alam and Adviser for the Ministry of Youth and Sports Asif Mahmud also met him.

“He [Yunus] wanted to tender his resignation, but his Cabinet members persuaded him not to,” a source told AFP.

YUNUS CORNERED BY ARMY CHIEF AND BNP ON ELECTIONS

Muhammad Yunus’ threat to resign if parties didn’t offer him full support came after a day of protests by the BNP and the demand for a clear road map for elections.

“The highest priority should be placed on announcing a clear road map for the election,” BNP leader Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said on Thursday.

This was the BNP’s first large-scale protest against the interim government. Other than the demand to declare its candidate mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, the party also pressed for the resignation of two members of Yunus Cabinet members seen close to the NCP and that of the National Security Adviser, Khalilur Rahman.

With the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League banned from political activities, the BNP, the only other major party in Bangladesh sees it as its clear chance to win the election and assume power.

There is already a King’s Party in the form of Nahid Islam’s NCP, and the BNP has genuine fears that further delays could be used to deny it the opportunity to form the government.

There is a feeling among Bangladesh watchers that Yunus is using the students and Islamist mobs as his foot soldiers and trying to cling on to power without holding elections.

Though Yunus has said elections will be held by June 2026, there is a growing impatience among political parties, including the BNP.

Even Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman issued a stern warning on Wednesday that the Yunus-led interim government would have to hold elections by December.

During a show of unity in the armed forces, General Zaman also lashed out against the Yunus government for trying to take a unilateral decision on the “bloody” Rakhine corridor and interfering in military matters.

YUNUS, BANGLADESH STUDENT LEADERS AND ISLAMISTS

Experts and commentators have expressed fear that Yunus might try to use the July Proclamation to cling on to power by declaring a new Republic, repealing the 1972 Constitution and removing General Zaman.

There are suspicions that Yunus might try to use Islamist mobs and his NSA in a bid to remove General Zaman, a rare Bangladeshi General who is the beacon of democracy in a country where all other institutions have failed.

Knowing fully well that students and Islamists might try to take to mob violence to make Yunus’ and their demands heard, General Zaman said the military would take a tough stance on public disorder.

“Violence and chaos in the name of mass mobilisation will no longer be tolerated,” he was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune.

Students and Islamists are trying to mobilise protesters to march to the Dhaka Cantonment and Bangladesh Secretariat, among other areas, after Friday prayers, sources in Bangladesh departments told India Today Digital late on Thursday evening.

They said the student leaders were busy planning massive agitations.

Videos of torch marches in Dhaka have also been circulating on social media on Thursday evening.

Some social media posts, meanwhile, appealed to people to not join in the Friday street protests called by “traitors”, claiming the Yunus had “limited time only”.

Dhaka, which has seen incessant street protests since July 2024, might become witness to yet another bout of agitation.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/muhammad-yunus-threatens-to-resign-students-islamists-protests-dhaka-agitation-bangladesh-army-chief-election-2729116-2025-05-23

A major accident occurred at a launch ceremony for a new North Korean naval destroyer, state media reported on Thursday (May 22), with leader Kim Jong Un saying the mishap was a “criminal act”.

At a ceremony to launch a new 5,000-ton destroyer in the eastern port city of Chongjin on Wednesday, “a serious accident occurred”, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

South Korea’s military said North Korea also fired “multiple unidentified cruise missiles” on Thursday, which were detected near the North’s South Hamgyong province after being “fired toward the East Sea”, also known as the Sea of Japan.

Blaming “inexperienced command and operational carelessness” during the launch, which was being observed by Kim, KCNA said there was a mishap which left “some sections of the warship’s bottom crushed”.

It said the accident managed to “destroy the balance of the warship”.

The report did not mention whether there were any casualties.

Kim watched the entire incident and declared it a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness”, warning it “could not be tolerated”.

He said the “irresponsible errors” of officials responsible would be “dealt with at the plenary meeting of the Party Central Committee to be convened next month”.

South Korea’s military said US and Seoul intelligence authorities assess that North Korea’s “side-launch attempt” of the ship failed.

“The side-launch method used in this case is no longer employed by South Korea’s military,” Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

The vessel is currently listing in the water, Lee said, and based on its size and scale, it is believed to be similarly equipped to the 5,000-ton destroyer-class warship Choe Hyon, which North Korea unveiled last month.

Last month, Pyongyang’s state media ran images of Kim attending a launching ceremony of Choe Hyon with his daughter Ju Ae, considered by many experts to be his likely successor.

North Korea claimed the vessel was equipped with the “most powerful weapons”, and that it would “enter into operation early next year”.

Some analysts said the ship could be equipped with short-range tactical missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads – although North Korea has not proven it has the ability to miniaturise its atomic arsenal.

RUSSIAN CONNECTION?

The South Korean military has said the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help, possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.

Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, said the warship involved in Wednesday’s accident may have also been constructed with Russian assistance.

Chongjin, the North Korean city where the launch ceremony was held, is close to Russia’s Vladivostok port, he noted.

“It’s also likely that the projected timeline for the vessel – including when assembly would be completed and the ship launched – was shared with the Russian side,” he told AFP.

“It appears the dock was hastily constructed, and multiple issues may have arisen during the shipbuilding process.

“With today’s announcement, Pyongyang seems to be signalling not only to its own people, but also to the Russian side.”

STRENGTHENING THE NAVY

North Korea confirmed in April for the first time that it had deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow in the Ukraine war.

Moscow and Pyongyang recently announced that they had started building the first road bridge linking the two countries.

North Korea also launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.

In March, Kim inspected a project to build a nuclear-powered submarine, asserting that “radically” boosting the navy was a key part of Pyongyang’s defensive strategy.

Kim called at the time for the modernisation of the country’s surface and underwater naval forces, including the development of warships.

Pyongyang has previously claimed to be developing underwater nuclear attack drones, which could unleash a “radioactive tsunami”, but analysts have questioned whether it actually has such a weapon.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/north-korea-warship-launch-serious-accident-5145951

A Chicago-born man arrested as the lone suspect in the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington was charged on Thursday (May 22) in federal court with two counts of first-degree murder in a killing widely condemned as an act of antisemitism.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, is accused of opening fire on a group of people on Wednesday night as they left an event for young professionals and diplomats hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.

Rodriguez told police on the scene, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza”, according to the charging documents. Witnesses recounted hearing him chant, “Free Palestine” after he was taken into custody.

The two victims struck by gunfire and killed were identified as Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple about to become engaged to be married.

Friends and members of advocacy groups they belonged to said the pair were committed to building bridges between Arabs and Jews in hopes of ending bloodshed in the Middle East.

After the shooting, Israeli embassies around the world immediately stepped up security.

In addition to two counts of first-degree murder, Rodriguez was charged in a six-page criminal complaint with murder of foreign officials, causing death with a firearm and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.

Interim US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, newly appointed by President Donald Trump as the top federal prosecutor in Washington, said at a news briefing that the complaint against Rodriguez constitutes a “death penalty-eligible case”.

“We are going to continue to investigate this as a hate crime and as a crime of terrorism,” Pirro told reporters.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier that the suspect was believed to have acted alone.

At his first appearance in court on Thursday, the suspect waived his right to a detention hearing, and a preliminary hearing in the case was set for Jun 18.

Rodriguez said little during the proceeding except to answer, “I do” to questions from a federal magistrate judge about whether he understood his rights.

The charges were filed as FBI and police investigators pored over apparent writings and political affiliations of the suspect.

POSSIBLE MANIFESTO?

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino posted on social media that investigators were “aware of certain writings allegedly authored by the suspect” and hoped to soon have updates regarding their authenticity.

Bongino’s statement appeared to refer to a manifesto signed with Rodriguez’s name that was posted to an anonymous X account on Wednesday night shortly before the shooting.

Posted with the title “Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home”, it condemned Israel’s killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians since the October 2023 Hamas attacks, and discussed the morality of “armed” action.

“In the wake of an act people look for a text to fix its meaning so here’s an attempt,” the document read. “The atrocities committed by Israelis against Palestine defy description and defy quantification.”

Israel has faced sustained international condemnation for its escalating Gaza military offensive, while Jewish advocacy groups have warned of a rise in antisemitic incidents globally.Investigators also delved into apparent political affiliations of the suspect.

SUSPECT’S BACKGROUND

Rodriguez was once involved with a far-left group in Chicago, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, according to a post from the group on X. The group said Rodriguez had a brief association with a PSL branch that ended in 2017 and was unaware of any further contact with him in more than seven years.

“We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it,” the organisation said.

Rodriguez was also identified in a 2018 local news report as a member of the Chicago branch of a national group called ANSWER, an acronym for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, which has organised demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians. ANSWER did not immediately respond to email and phone messages.

At the time of his arrest, Rodriguez worked at the healthcare nonprofit American Osteopathic Information Association, the organisation confirmed in a statement expressing sympathy for the victims.

He had also worked as an oral history researcher at The HistoryMakers, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving African American stories, according to a now-deleted biography on the group’s website, and was a content writer for technology firms.

Rodriguez was born and reared in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in English.

According to the FBI affidavit, the suspect flew to the Washington area from Chicago on Tuesday. On Wednesday night, he was seen pacing outside the museum, little more than 2km from the White House, shortly before the shooting, police said.

Surveillance video footage showed Rodriguez firing several times at Lischinsky and Milgrim, then leaning over them to fire several more rounds after they fell to the ground and after Milgrim tried to crawl away and sat up, according to an FBI affidavit in the criminal complaint. The gunman paused to reload, then resumed firing, it said.

He then tossed away his gun, retreated into the museum and was arrested there after calling attention to himself as the suspect, pulling out a red Palestinian-style keffiyeh scarf and declaring that he “did it”, the affidavit said.

Investigators recovered a 9mm handgun that he had purchased in Illinois five years ago, 21 spent shell casings and a firearm magazine at the scene, according to the complaint.

Trump condemned the shooting.

“These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” he said in a message on Truth Social. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his heart ached for the families of the victims, “whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer”.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-washington-israel-embassy-shooting-suspect-charged-murder-5148351

Four people have died and several were missing as major flooding in New South Wales (NSW) left about 50,000 people isolated by floodwaters.

The record rainfall, now declared a natural disaster, has been caused by a slow-moving area of low pressure and is greater than any in living memory for some residents, according to local authorities.

Heavy rains moved south overnight affecting Sydney and Newcastle, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing weather warnings for southern parts of the state.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to visit the flood-affected areas on Friday morning with NSW Premier Chris Minns, who earlier said the state was “far from out of the woods”.

The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) said it had responded to more than 535 flood rescues in the 24 hours to 05:00 local time (19:00 GMT) – and more than 670 rescues since the flooding began.

There are more than 150 flood warnings in place with 40 of those at emergency level and authorities have re-issued earlier advice for people not to drive or enter floodwaters.

More than 100 schools have been closed because of the floods, which have left thousands of homes and businesses without power. Evacuation centres have been opened for those fleeing the flooding.

Taree, a city on the Mid North Coast, has been among the worst affected. On Wednesday, flooding at a major river in the area surpassed 6.3m (20.6ft), beating an almost century old record for its highest level.

Authorities have confirmed the fourth death due to the floods after they recovered the body of a man in his late 70s in the early hours of Friday after it appeared he drove into floodwaters near Coffs Harbour.

Earlier, the body of a 63-year-old man was recovered on Wednesday afternoon at a property in Moto, near Taree. The fatality was later identified in an ABC News report as David Knowles. Local police have started an investigation into the incident.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sent his condolences to the man’s family in a post in X, calling his death “devastating”.

On Thursday morning, the body of a man in his 30s was found in floodwaters near Rosewood on the Mid North Coast. It followed earlier reports of a man stuck in floodwaters while driving in the area.

On Thursday afternoon, NSW police said its officers had recovered the body of a 60-year-old woman who got into trouble in her car in floodwaters at Brooklana, about 30km (18 miles) from the city of Coffs Harbour.

Police said there were a number of people missing with searches continuing for a 49-year-old man from Nymbodia who did not return home several nights ago and was last seen crossing a flooded area.

Nearly 10,000 homes are at risk of flooding in the state’s Mid North Coast.

“We are bracing for more bad news,” Minns told reporters at a press conference yesterday.

“It’s very difficult to get supplies into some of these isolated communities,” Minns said, adding that the prime minister has pledged his support for any help needed from the federal government.

Minns also urged those who are in “prepare to evacuate” areas to leave if they can, while acknowledging some won’t be able to.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c861gqdd8x0o